She used to be branded as the most autocratic ruler of the Nehru dynasty by the Left. In fact in the early ’80s, election graffiti of the CPI (M) depicted her as a witch. Two decades later, Indira Gandhi is undergoing a ‘‘resurrection’’ as the Marxist Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, goes on to unveil a statue of hers in one of the most prime locations of the city.The Republic Day this year will witness characters of diverse political shades with a Trinamool Mayor of Kolkata and a Marxist Chief Minister joining hands to unveil the statue of a late Congress leader.The state’s political circles also hint at the changing scenario at the national level where the Marxist are desperate to court the Congress to take on the Sangh Parivar. ‘‘And with the RSS chief accusing the Marxists for the country’s ills during his tour in the state, Buddhadeb can certainly find some solace in the fact that it was the Congress which had put some of these RSS leaders behind bars,’’ said a LF constituent party leader.The story of Indira Gandhi’s statue has other interesting dimensions. The statue was lying for nine years after being completed by well-known sculptor Ramesh Chandra Pal. Pal had a tough time handing it over to the government as sucessive leaders of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress searched for a site befitting Indira’s status.In the state politics, Mayor Subrata Mukherjee has displayed exemplary survival skills. He continues to hold sway over the Congress trade union body — INTUC. During Jyoti Basu’s regime, he was the one to have the best access to the Chief Minister that earned him the epithet of a ‘‘watermelon — green outside but red inside’’ from his own party colleagues. Kshiti Goswami, the former PWD minister from Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP — a LF partner) during whose tenure the statue was completed, said: ‘‘The Chief Minister could have refused to unveil the statue. But by giving his consent, Buddhadeb has set an example of parliamentary courtsey.’’
