The corridor in front of the mayor's chamber in the headquarters of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has got a fresh coat of paint. Some of the rooms where the mayoral council members sit have been painted too.
On Wednesday afternoon, two workers scrubbed the length of the first-floor corridor's old mosaic floor. A couple of men climbed ladders to dust the overhead lights. In the councillors' clubroom, an electrician sat on a sofa assembling a new fan for installation.
Elections over, the buzz is back at the municipal headquarters, although it will be a while before a reconstituted Trinamul team pads up for civic duty.
Metro highlights how the new dispensation will take shape and who will be in charge of your ward till then.
What if I have to meet the councillor of my ward for something in the interregnum?
In wards where the sitting councillors have won, you shouldn't have a problem figuring out whom to meet.
But I have a new councillor...
Technically, the incumbent is still the councillor. The rule book says that a councillor remains in office till the end of the civic body's term. The term of the councillors elected in 2010 doesn't end until June 16.
Even if a councillor didn't seek re-election or lost the poll, the incumbent's successor won't officially be the ward representative until he/she takes oath of office.
When will the newly elected councillors take oath?
The tentative dates are May 5 and 6.
Where will the councillors take oath?
In the council chamber or the House, which is the civic body's equivalent of Parliament or the state Assembly. The councillors meet in the House once a month. Opposition members ask questions and the mayor or the mayoral council members handling various portfolios respond.
Decisions pertaining to recruitment, civic land or property transfer and spendings above Rs 5 crore have to be passed in the House.
When will the mayor take oath? Who will administer the oath?
The date for the mayor's swearing-in has yet to be fixed by the municipal affairs department.
The mayor takes oath twice, first as a councillor along with the 143 other newly elected members of the civic body. The senior-most councillor, who is usually appointed the pro tem chairman, administers the oath of office to the mayor. The chairperson of the House takes oath after the mayor.
A mayor has to be elected by the House, though that is a formality in this case because of Trinamul's clean sweep of the polls. With 114 out of 144 wards going to the ruling party, Sovan Chatterjee becoming mayor for a second term is almost guaranteed.
What about the mayor's team?
The mayoral council will take oath either on the date the mayor is sworn in or on another date. The ruling party chooses who will become the mayoral council members, just like ministers.
What do the mayoral council members do?
They are like ministers and the mayoral council is the equivalent of a cabinet. All policy decisions have to be passed by the council.
The mayor is empowered to take a decision without consulting the council in an emergency but it has to be ratified later.
How many mayoral council members can a mayor have in the team?
Members of the mayoral council cannot exceed 10 per cent of the total number of elected councillors. In the newly elected board, the maximum number is 14.
When will the borough chairpersons be elected?
This generally happens after the mayor and his team take oath. Technically, councillors of a borough vote to elect the borough chairperson. Since Trinamul has the majority in each of the boroughs, it will be a cakewalk for the party's nominees.
A borough chairperson leads a borough. There is a meeting every month that the councillors concerned attend to discuss problems and projects in their borough. Each borough gets Rs 1.2 crore a year to spend on development.
