This is poriborton?

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has not adapted well from a life in opposition to being the head of her states government. Yet even by her standards,and those of the hollowed-out administrative machinery of the state now in her care,her recent actions have been shocking. On Monday,a religious procession passed through a section of south Kolkata dotted by hospitals,including one for cancer patients and one for children. The procession was noisy,playing high-decibel music and bursting crackers. On being reminded by the local police that this was not permissible behaviour in the area,the processions leaders indicated that they had strong connections to the ruling Trinamool Congress,and to the chief minister herself. The police responded by arresting the leaders which is when Banerjee intervened,marching from her home nearby to the police station,reprimanding the senior officers at the scene,and ensuring that the arrested party members were freed with no charges.

That this is no way for a chief minister to behave is obvious to everyone but Mamata Banerjee. As leader of the opposition,she may have been accustomed to storming police stations on behalf of those of her party members she thought were being victimised by the CPM-controlled police. But that behaviour,barely tolerable in an opposition politician,cannot carry through into government. In government,her priority must be should have been to ensure the police are freed from extensive political interference. The decades-old stranglehold of the CPM on the institutions of state in West Bengal needed not merely a change of guard,but a reanimation of the basic principles of institutional independence. They did not need,nor will they easily survive,the demoralising effect of interventions such as those of Banerjee also the home minister,responsible for the police just carried out.

Banerjees credibility as a responsible politician had already hit a new low with her posturing about petrol price increases. The populism is partly central to her politics,and partly covers a straightforward,pragmatic attempt to ensure the Centre bankrolls West Bengals crumbling finances. That too is short-sighted; her state has mandated her to create jobs,and cashing the Centres cheques alone wont do it. Getting investment to Bengal will. But populist posturing,and demonstrating an unwillingness to respect the duties of the chief minister as opposed to the party leader,wont convince anyone that anything has changed. Poriborton will fail.