Mamata defends idea to paint Kolkata in blue and white

Kolkata: The move to give Kolkata the distinctive blue-white signature theme has earned brickbats from opposition parties, prompting Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to back her decision on Wednesday by giving example of famed “Pink City” Jaipur.
“I had the idea of decorating Kolkata blue and white after I visited the pink city Jaipur,” Banerjee said at a programme TMC-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation at Bhowanipur, her Assembly constituency in south Kolkata.
Over the past three years in several parts of the city state-owned buildings, small and big parks, bridges, road railings, boulevards, flyovers, traffic police booths as well as new taxis were given a sky blue and pristine white look, Mamata’s favourite colour.
The opposition parties also came down hard on the TMC-run Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s tax waiver scheme, decided in a meeting of its mayor-in-council last year, for people who would opt for painting their houses in blue and white colours. (PTI)