India, May 24 -- In the late evening of Wednesday, May 20, shortly after the full fury of Cyclone Amphan was experienced in the coastal districts of West Bengal, not least Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee appeared to break down in front of the cameras. The lady who, a few hours ago, attempted - with a generous sprinkling of incoherence - to explain the contours of a cyclone and who had boasted that the State Government was ready with its disaster management set-up, seemed completely shattered by the news of the devastation, suggesting that it was all-round destruction.
It is natural to feel sympathetic to a Chief Minister who is a one-woman army, having centralised and personalised the entire administration of a difficult State. Already beleaguere...