This revelation is the last crippling blow to the Bhattacharjee government, forcing it to abandon the IT project. But even as all seemed lost to the commissars, there has been a twist in the tale, for it isn't only the Marxists who have been implicated in the latest land scam but also several people close to the Trinamool Congress. As a result, Banerjee's pristine reputation as a doughty champion of the poor has taken a hit.

However, the people of the state are unlikely to be surprised. They saw how the Congress's degeneration helped the Communists to gain power, and then witnessed the Left's decline into corruption. The reason why Banerjee gained widespread support despite her reckless brand of politics, such as associating with the Maoists, was her reputation for personal integrity exemplified in an unostentatious lifestyle.

But, now, doubts may arise about her credentials as well. As it is, she is not regarded as the most level-headed of persons. Her expertise in the economic field is also limited, guided as she is by populist notions of heavy government and public sector investments in 'pro-poor' projects, which benefit middle men more than the targeted beneficiaries.

Her only plus points are her seeming incorruptibility and grit in fighting the rampaging Marxists with their habitual recourse to the politics of threat and intimidation. But to fulfil her obvious ambition of becoming chief minister, she will have to demonstrate an ability to grasp the basic reasons for the state's present sorry plight.

Since these relate to the infiltration of goons into virtually all the parties and the influence exercised by promoters or 'land sharks' over the political class, only a leader of commanding stature and administrative skill will be able to win the electorate's support. But Banerjee does not measure up to these expectations.

As a result, West Bengal is again suffering from a failure of political leadership. After the towering figure of the visionary B.C. Roy, who built the Durgapur and Haldia industrial complexes, and mooted the idea of satellite towns like Kalyani to draw people away from overcrowded Kolkata, the state has seen no one with similar purposefulness.

While Jyoti Basu was hobbled by his dogmatic comrades, who were responsible for the flight of capital, Bhattacharjee's ham-handed attempts to rectify the mistakes of the past were foiled by Banerjee's unrelenting opposition to anything which the Left initiated, even if it was ostensibly for the state's benefit.

Now, she also does not seem capable of effectively addressing West Bengal's problems.

(12.09.09-Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached at aganguli@mail.com)