Mamata Banerjee's 18-year-long journey to Writers' Building
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Mission accomplished: 18 years after she was dragged down the corridors of Writers', Mamata Banerjee sits in the Chief minister's chamber.
Eighteen years later, when Mamata Banerjee walked into the chamber that said 'Chief Minister' on Friday, heels clicked, hands snapped up in salute or joined in awed obeisance, while outside, thousands cheered.
Trailed by a sea of supporters shouting "Didi, Didi", Mamata walked the 1 km to Writers' Buidling from Raj Bhavan, where she took oath as the first non-Left chief minister in 34 years and West Bengal's first woman CM.
Bureaucrats and police brass escorted Mamata up the same flight of stairs she was dragged down in 1993.
Trailed by a sea of supporters shouting "Didi, Didi", Mamata walked the 1 km to Writers' Buidling from Raj Bhavan, where she took oath as the first non-Left chief minister in 34 years and West Bengal's first woman CM.
Bureaucrats and police brass escorted Mamata up the same flight of stairs she was dragged down in 1993.
In the corridor, she suddenly broke her brisk stride and turned towards a balcony where she stood and waved to the delirious crowd. A bodyguard swiftly crouched before her, hanging on to the low guard rails to protect her from the mad scramble of photojournalists. With a final wave, Mamata walked off purposefully to the CM's chamber. It was 4.44pm.
On the way to Raj Bhawan, she waded through a sea of fans. "This is your day. It is you who are going to Raj Bhavan today. I am just representing a wish. For the next seven days I will not see anybody. I will work day and night, even on weekends, to sort out certain issues. After that I will start seeing you again, once a week. My doors will be open for you," she promised. Within hours, she announced her government's first major decision ^ returning 400 acres of land to farmers in Singur, where her campaign had prevented Tatas from setting up a Nano plant.
As she strode in to take oath, facing her, in the front row, were her glum political foes ^ ex-CMBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and ex-finance minister Asim Dasgupta. Bhattacharjee and Mamata have always avoided each other. This time, they made an exception and exchanged polite namaskars.
A part of Delhi's power list was also there. Union home minister P Chidambaram walked in a few minutes after Bhattacharjee. He greeted Amit Mitra, the new finance minister, and the two had a quick conversation. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony also attended the event.
Raj Bhavan had never seen such glitter. Among the filmstars there were Prosenjit, Ranjit Mallik and daughter Koel, Rituparno Ghosh, Supriya Debi, writer Mahasveta Devi, painter Suvaprasanna. Top industrialists like Yogi Deweshwar and Harsh Neotia also attended.
Exactly four hours earlier, Mamata had set off from her humble house on Harish Chatterjee Street on a journey to change Bengal's history. By then thousands of supporters lined the route she would take to Raj Bhavan, holding puja thalis and blowing conch shells. Many came bare-feet, as if they were going to worship a deity.
Near her house, there was a Puja-like atmosphere. When she emerged wearing a crisp off-white saree with a blue zari border, a chant of Didi... Didi went up. Her black Santro revved to take her to Raj Bhavan, but Mamata walked into the crowd, catching the Special Security Unit guards by surprise. She touched as many hands as she could, smiled, and folded her hands. Someone passed her a microphone.
Neighbours showered flowers as she got into the Santro, ignoring a bulletproof car. Five of her brothers and their families followed. Mother Gayatri Devi could not make it because she was ill.
At exactly 12.50pm, Mamata walked into Raj Bhavan. She greeted Governor M K Narayanan warmly and took up the sheet of paper she was to read out from. A deafening applause signalled the beginning of her reign.
On the way to Raj Bhawan, she waded through a sea of fans. "This is your day. It is you who are going to Raj Bhavan today. I am just representing a wish. For the next seven days I will not see anybody. I will work day and night, even on weekends, to sort out certain issues. After that I will start seeing you again, once a week. My doors will be open for you," she promised. Within hours, she announced her government's first major decision ^ returning 400 acres of land to farmers in Singur, where her campaign had prevented Tatas from setting up a Nano plant.
As she strode in to take oath, facing her, in the front row, were her glum political foes ^ ex-CMBuddhadeb Bhattacharjee, Left Front chairman Biman Bose and ex-finance minister Asim Dasgupta. Bhattacharjee and Mamata have always avoided each other. This time, they made an exception and exchanged polite namaskars.
A part of Delhi's power list was also there. Union home minister P Chidambaram walked in a few minutes after Bhattacharjee. He greeted Amit Mitra, the new finance minister, and the two had a quick conversation. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony also attended the event.
Raj Bhavan had never seen such glitter. Among the filmstars there were Prosenjit, Ranjit Mallik and daughter Koel, Rituparno Ghosh, Supriya Debi, writer Mahasveta Devi, painter Suvaprasanna. Top industrialists like Yogi Deweshwar and Harsh Neotia also attended.
Exactly four hours earlier, Mamata had set off from her humble house on Harish Chatterjee Street on a journey to change Bengal's history. By then thousands of supporters lined the route she would take to Raj Bhavan, holding puja thalis and blowing conch shells. Many came bare-feet, as if they were going to worship a deity.
Near her house, there was a Puja-like atmosphere. When she emerged wearing a crisp off-white saree with a blue zari border, a chant of Didi... Didi went up. Her black Santro revved to take her to Raj Bhavan, but Mamata walked into the crowd, catching the Special Security Unit guards by surprise. She touched as many hands as she could, smiled, and folded her hands. Someone passed her a microphone.
Neighbours showered flowers as she got into the Santro, ignoring a bulletproof car. Five of her brothers and their families followed. Mother Gayatri Devi could not make it because she was ill.
At exactly 12.50pm, Mamata walked into Raj Bhavan. She greeted Governor M K Narayanan warmly and took up the sheet of paper she was to read out from. A deafening applause signalled the beginning of her reign.
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