A Trinamool Xmas

Kolkata's historic main shopping road, Park Street, has always been lit up for the Christmas-New Year season. But since the Trinamool Congress has come to power, observers have noted that the decorations have become simultaneously larger in scale and subtly less tasteful. That is being attributed to the fact that Derek O'Brien, a senior Trinamool parliamentarian, was the motive force behind the decoration even earlier - and, after the party's ascent into power, O'Brien has less time to oversee the preparations himself. However, even if he did, he could not have changed one thing: the blue-and white theme. Just as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decreed that Kolkata become blue-and-white - with cashbacks on tax dues to homeowners who paint their property that colour - and the kerbs of pavements are being painted blue-and-white, so the colours of Kolkata Christmas have changed. Red and green traditionally, in the Trinamool's home town the official decorations are all blue. There is even a blue-and-white Santa Claus.