LADY WITH A MICROPHONE

WEST BENGAL Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did it again. An escort car in President Pranab Mukherjee’s convoy fell into a gorge in Darjeeling 10 days ago. All the six security personnel travelling in the car were rescued in an operation that was supervised by Ms Banerjee with a portable microphone in hand, which was arranged by local villagers. This was not the first time that she had taken charge in this manner. In the early hours of a December 2011 morning a fire broke out at AMRI Hospital in South Kolkata. Unlike other chief ministers, Ms Banerjee rushed to the spot. Sitting on a plastic chair, with a microphone in hand, Ms Banerjee not only supervised rescue operations but also managed the crowd. She later camped outside the morgue in state-run SSKM Hospital giving orders to doctors to expedite the post-mortem, consoling grieving members of families and also arranging for transport for those who wanted to take bodies to the districts. More recently, when the Vivekananda Road flyover came crashing down, Ms Banerjee was campaigning for the Assembly elections in Jungle Mahal. She cancelled her meetings and rushed back to the city. She drove straight to the accident site and again micro-managed the rescue and relief operations. Wiser after the Darjeeling incident, security officers who travel with her when she goes on district tours are planning to keep a powerful microphone in the bag.