After an intensely contested local bodies election, the dust is beginning to settle down and people have begun analyzing the future of this great Mughal metropolis which in recent years has been reduced to a black hole of civilization.

 Having been stricken with dengue for almost a fortnight which forced her to stay confined to her hospital bed while her opponents marched full steam ahead in the campaigning, Anjula rose like a phoenix and overwhelmed the city with her ubiquitous presence and a winsome smile that exuded confidence.

 Just a week before the D-day she was all over the city, with impressive road shows, personal contact yatras. To a layman she appeared well tutored to answer every question that curious and harassed urbanites had angled for her. Though it is a bit too early in the day to comment on her performance as the new mayor of Agra, she already appears to have bridged the yawning psychological communication gap with her straight talks that appeal both to the heart as well as to the mind.

 Would she deliver where others before her, from the same party, have failed? This is the question everyone in Agra is asking right now. She happens to be the fourth BJP mayor in a row. Earlier, Baby Rani Maurya, presently a member of the National Women's Commission, had similarly charmed the whole city with her looks and communication skills. But till the end of her five year term the  tag of a "Baby Doll" attached to her name let her do no more than being the ceremonial head of the local body.

 Anjula at the moment appears to have a mind of her own. She is young and energetic. Her persuasive skills could iron out differences in the civic body that has as many problems as the number of employees, most of whom are pro-Congress, led by the enigmatic union leader DK Joshi whose penchant for filing petitions in the Allahabad High Court is legendary.

 "I will leave no stone unturned to make Agra fit to be called the city of the Taj Mahal," she promises. Her first priority would be cleanliness. "The results would be there for all to see in just a few months," she says confidently.

Anjula, 37 years, a law graduate, mother of two daughters, wife of excise superintendent Sudhier Mahaur posted in Kanpur, has targeted encroachments, which not only obstruct traffic, prevent cleanliness but are also an eyesore. She would brook no dilly dallying nor shady dealings in the municipal corporation. "I would like to see total transparency in all our operations. The corrupt shall not be spared," she promises like her predecessors did.

In an interview she said she would tour all the wards and listen to people's grievances to take prompt decisions. "I will keep one whole day reserved in a week to meet the janata and look into their problems."The Agra mayoral seat reserved for SC woman, saw a high voltage propaganda onslaught on the voters with all the main rival parties in the fray. The Samajwadi party which was hoping to wrest the seat from BJP came fourth.

Anjula is confident of being able to tackle both the obstructionist corporators and the lethargic bureaucratic machine in the corporation. "I am a law graduate and can understand all the rigmaroles and intricacies of rules and paper work."

Agra women naturally are a great deal excited and hopeful of accelerated pace of growth and broadbasing of municipal infrastructure. "She will succeed only if she rises above partisan politics and asserts her independence," says senior teacher Meera of St Peter's College. On the other hand, if she discriminated against the poor in the slums and ghettoes of Agra, who have high hopes from her, she would prove another disastrous failure like the previous ones, adds Tamanna Begum of Periyar Self Help group of Kachchpura behind the Taj Mahal. Social activist Netra Pal Singh sees a streak of Sushma Swaraj in Anjula Singh, the same style and fire, but no substance. Well time alone will tell.

Interestingly, the Agra Municipal Corporation for the first time will see real women's power. Not only the mayor, 33 corporators in a house of 85 are women, and some of the more vocal corporators are women who have been active for a number of years. How the officials of the corporation behave and respond to orders from this big chunk of female power remains to be seen.