No last-minute surprises were on offer as Mamata Banerjee picked Firhad Hakim as Calcutta’s mayor, Atin Ghosh as deputy mayor and Mala Roy as chairperson.

Although sweeping changes at the top were advised by Trinamul Congress-hired poll consultant Prashant Kishor, the chief minister went with the intent to largely rely on time-tested loyalists who have delivered, preferring the experience and loyalty of the veterans to surveys and reports in favour of the new and the young.

“In the corporation, you need experience. Without experience, the work cannot be done properly. There are many technical points to this,” said Mamata, in apparent justification of the decisions.

When Trinamul state president Subrata Bakshi announced the names of Roy and Hakim to applause from the gathering, comprising the 134 councillors of the party from the 144-ward Calcutta Municipal Corporation, besides senior leaders and elected representatives from the city, Mamata asked — citing her party’s adherence to democratic principles within — if anybody had an objection.

Bakshi said: “When she (Mamata) is here and has said it, there is no question of objection.”

She went on to announce the names of the mayoral council members and the borough chairpersons, where a few new names were accommodated.

Mamata’s nephew and Trinamul’s Number Two Abhishek was conspicuous in his absence. Although several seniors in the leadership refused to read too much into it, some pointed out that this was how the Diamond Harbour MP had reacted in the oath-taking ceremony of the second Trinamul-led cabinet in 2016, when his purported objection to the inclusion of some — including Hakim and then mayor Sovan Chatterjee — had gone unheeded.

“He (Abhishek) went to Delhi yesterday (Wednesday), although he was supposed to be present here. As a passionate Young Turk with a vision for the future, he is a bit of a radical romantic, when it comes to politics. She (Mamata) is far more pragmatic,” said a Trinamul insider.

This was the first time since Trinamul’s formation that the party went to the polls without clarity on who the mayor is going to be.

“It remains unclear whether Bobby (Hakim) would now be asked to give up his ministerial berth, because of the policy. Knowing him, he would gladly sacrifice his seat in the cabinet to continue as mayor. But given the way things have been going over the past month or so, it appears quite unlikely that he would be asked to choose,” said a Trinamul Rajya Sabha member.

The chief minister hailed the people for the victory and warned the councillors against underperformance and laxity, ordering them to get to work right away.

She assured the people that she would personally oversee the work of the historic body, thoroughly reviewing performance every six months and taking firm decisions accordingly, if the need arises.

“The more we win, the humbler we must become. There is no place for vanity in Trinamul Congress,” she said to loud cheers from the audience.

She thanked the state election commission and Calcutta Police for “very good work” and said: “Such a peaceful election, nobody in India has been able to show.”

Mamata was apparently referring, dismissively, to the numerous complaints by the Opposition of vitiation of the poll process on Sunday, which she and Abhishek had previously warned the party’s rank and file against.

The only element of surprise at the event was in Mamata’s declaration that the three victorious Independent candidates -- Rubina Naaz of Ward 135, Purbasha Naskar of Ward 141 and Ayesha Kaniz of Ward 43 – who had expressed their desire to join Trinamul would not be allowed in at the moment.

Atin Ghosh. Telegraph photo

“They had ties with the party in the past and they contacted us after winning. But I do not want them in the party right away…. If some think they will sabotage the party’s cause, win (against the party’s candidates) and then get into the party, they will have to wait. The game is not that easy,” she said, vowing to stand by the 10 defeated candidates of her party, besides some former councillors who were not fielded this time, assuring them that they would be involved in various capacities in the work of the corporation.

Sources in the party said Mamata did this to deliver a firm message to nip such tendencies in the bud, with polls to 111 other civic bodies likely to take place early next year.

“Had she not done this, it would’ve opened the floodgates and caused mayhem in those 111 bodies, where those denied candidature would’ve felt encouraged to fight as Independents,” said a Trinamul vice-president.