The seat of power in West Bengal has started to shed the legacy of Marxism and its founder.
Three days before the new government takes charge,Writers Buildings is not only going through a makeover but also doing away with a Left Front tradition. For the first time in 34 years,government employees will not hold a function and a rally at the entrance to welcome a government just elected.
Starting with the one headed by Jyoti Basu in 1977,every Left Front government was welcomed by the employees Coordination Committee affiliated to the CPM. The rally would be addressed by the Chief Minister,after which he would lead his council of ministers into Writers.
This time,Mamata Banerjee herself has instructed that no such rally should be held.
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Marx is being removed from the walls of ministers chambers too; so are Lenin and Che Guevara. We are sure the portraits of these communist leaders will be removed, said an official with the PWD,which has taken up the job of sprucing up the complex. At present we are sprucing up the offices. The incumbent minister will decide on the adornment on the walls.
The room in front of the Chief Ministers chamber is being redone; the logo of a bank branch is being removed. Another room is being converted into a visiting room for ministers who have offices outside but who have to come to Writers frequently for work or to meet.
At the ground floor that has offices of employees unions,the office of the Coordination Committee is locked while those of the Trinamool-backed Employees Federation are packed with more and more employees turning up to become members. Since the results were out on May 13,some 300 applications for membership have been submitted, said Sanket Chakrabarty,convener of the Employees Federation.
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