india

Updated: Jun 10, 2014 17:23 IST

Paint your house or apartment building into Mamata Banerjee’s favourite colour — white and sky blue — and get a waiver on property tax for a full year. The mayor-in-council of the TMC-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has passed this proposal on Monday.

“We will allow full waiver of property tax for 2014-15 if anybody wishes to paint his/her house or apartment building in white and sky blue, the theme colour for Kolkata,” Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said.

The proposal will now be placed before the state Cabinet and if okayed, will be sent to the governor for his signature.

Red Kolkata turned white and blue soon after the Trinamool came to power in 2011. Most public buildings, including Nabanna, the new state secretariat, and police stations have had a brush with the CM’s favourite hue. Even public buses and taxis sport the colour.



But there are exceptions. Writers’ Buildings is still red. So is Lalbazar, headquarters of Kolkata Police.

The painting spree began after Mamata Banerjee, while inaugurating the riverfront beautification project from Princepghat to Bajekadamtala, had remarked that “blue and white signifies happiness and the city looks bright in this colour scheme”.

The Opposition, predictably, is seeing red at the new proposal. “The move will send the bankrupt civic body into further financial crisis,” said Rahul Sinha, state BJP president. Mala Roy, leader of the Congress in the KMC, added, “This is just another gimmick of the Mamata Banerjee govt.”