Event: Holi get-together

Organiser: The International Marwari Federation

Venue: A banquet hall near Alipore

Present: Mamata Banerjee

Come again? Nobody saw the chief minister at the banquet hall on Monday evening.

Nobody saw her but everyone heard about her - repeatedly, through explanation after explanation given by Mamata's three emissaries on how she ensured their presence there.

The takeaway is that the Trinamul Congress soft-launched its civic poll campaign among Hindi-speaking Calcuttans at the Holi programme - but in the absence of Mamata.

Instead of Mamata, who attended the programme last year, the triumvirate of ministers Amit Mitra and Firhad Hakim and Calcutta mayor Sovan Chatterjee did the wooing at a time the BJP is said to be consolidating its base among the enterprising community.

"This programme is happening with her blessings. She suggested these names (Mitra, Hakim and Chatterjee). They are representing Didi," Dinesh Bajaj, the president of the federation and a former Trinamul MLA, said at the outset.

The triumvirate then competed with one other to hammer home the detail that Mamata personally told each of them to ensure that they attended the programme.

The command had such an impact that mayor Chatterjee, usually seen moving around in a Pajero, thought it prudent to move heaven, earth and Calcutta police to hail the nearest available object on wheels, which happened to be an aam-aadmi taxi.

"I was with Didi and left my car because she does not like moving in a big convoy. She suddenly realised that the programme (the Holi milan) had started but I was still with her. She asked me to leave immediately. But I did not have the car. So I asked the police to hail me a cab and hopped into it. I took the car from Kalighat (Mamata's residence) where it was waiting and came here," Chatterjee said amid laughter from a section of the audience which had somewhat thinned because many had moved to the buffet table after waiting for long.

Mitra and Hakim were late not because of their fault but because they were discharging constitutional responsibilities.

"The Assembly was in session. There had to be at least six ministers present to form a quorum. So, both Hakim and I had to be there," Mitra said.

No explanation was offered why Mamata did not turn up this year. Bajaj suggested she had not been invited because of her busy schedule. The invitation also does not list the chief minister, in which case it cannot be said that Mamata skipped the event.

But, as always in Bengal politics, since Mamata attended the event last year, the grapevine began to buzz with questions on why she did not do so this year when civic elections - where the Hindi-speaking Calcuttans can play a decisive role in several wards - are approaching.

"It is an important vote bank. But there is no guarantee that the community is going to vote for her party this time, especially with the BJP trying to project itself as a serious contender. Nobody disputes Mamata's political acumen. If she was convinced her presence would have been fruitful, she is not the one to miss an opportunity like this. Yet, she has sent three of her senior colleagues to ensure that feathers are not ruffled," said a Trinamul leader.

The status of Mamata's equations with Bajaj, who was not given a ticket to contest in 2011, is also not clear.

Other sources suggested that Mamata did not want to be seen as siding with groups within the community by attending the event. Another person known to be close to Trinamul acts as Mamata's interface with the community. The sources suggested that Mamata might not have wanted to get drawn into the internal dynamics and allow some of the organisers to claim proximity to her.

But there was little doubt that the mayor tried to launch the civic poll campaign from the platform.

"There will be poll on April 18 and hopefully we will be back in office. Please pick up the phone and give me whatever suggestion you have. I am ready to listen to you," he said.

Chatterjee said de-cluttering Burrabazar - a hub of traders and the backyard of Bajaj - would be a top priority for his corporation.

He asked people to take advantage of the new building rules where 100 per cent more built-up space can be obtained if a tenanted house is pulled down, a new one is built and the old occupiers are given as much space as they had earlier. Burrabazar is littered with buildings that can make use of the leeway.