One-and-a-half years after she took over as West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee might have dredged out "serious financial irregularities" with which she could launch a scathing campaign against key leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI-M, ahead of the crucial panchayat elections to be held in the state next year. She has launched investigations into a number of housing projects undertaken by the previous Left Front government in partnership with local real estate developers. The land for each of these projects was made available by the state government. The Criminal Investigation Department, or CID, has been tasked with examining if ministers and government officials from the Left Front's 34-year regime had favoured builders at the cost of the state exchequer. It may take years to conclude these investigations, but from what has already popped out of the closets of Writers' Buildings it is clear that considerable firepower will be available to Banerjee going forward to take on key CPI-M leaders such as Gautam Deb, Abdur Rezzak Mollah and even Surjya Kanta Mishra—a politburo member and the leader of the opposition in the state's legislative assembly.
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