THE LONE WARRIOR
The Gandhi statue on Mayo Road has been one of the preferred protest sites in Kolkata for political parties and civil society groups. On April 13, Mamata Banerjee chose the venue to mark her dissent against the Election Commission (EC). No war cries, no sloganeering, the West Bengal chief minister sat near the statue for several hours, apparently engrossed in painting. Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders camped some distance away in solidarity.
A day before, when the EC barred her from campaigning for 24 hours for allegedly making provocative remarks during electioneering, a furious Mamata had taken to Twitter to challenge the order as “undemocratic and unconstitutional”. But at the Gandhi statue, she was a picture of restraint. The EC had
