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Mamata turns down Mayor's proposal

By Our Special Correspondent

Kolkata March 21. Whatever the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor, Subrata Mukherjee, wishes, the Trinamool Congress chairperson, Mamata Banerjee, opposes. Or it seems from the way Ms. Banerjee turned down Mr. Mukherjee's proposals relating to the city's development in the past few months.

The latest such opposition came when Mr. Mukherjee tried to garner additional revenue for the Trinamool-controlled corporation to structure a water pricing policy by way of tax.

"It's unfortunate. I failed to convince my own party about the need to operate a water tax in the city,'' Mr. Mukherjee commented.

Mr. Mukherjee, participating in the KMC budget on Wednesday, announced his decision to garner an additional revenue of about Rs. 12 crores by lowering the minimum annual valuation of buildings from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 4,000 as the criterion for charging the water tax.

Mr. Mukherjee thought that once he had made known his decision on a crucial issue such as this, the party would have no option but to back him. But like in the past, he was wrong. Ms. Banerjee summoned the Mayor to her Kalighat residence in the evening and told him in clearcut terms that he would have to revoke the decision. "I have told the Mayor that my party cannot support the new policy decision on water tax. If we do this, the average man would suffer and we cannot allow this to happen.''

According to Trinamool sources, the Mayor made no secret about his unhappiness to her. He is said to have told Ms. Banerjee that the revoking of the decision would only confirm the popular belief that the Trinamool is anti-development.''

Ms. Banerjee is believed to have assured the Mayor that the funds crunch should not trouble him as the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre would help the Trinamool cope with it.

Unconvinced, the Mayor is said to have walked out of the meeting. But he later decided to go by Ms. Banerjee's wish.

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