Firhad Hakim all set to be the new Mayor of Kolkata

Atin Ghosh will be the new Deputy Mayor; election just a formality

Kolkata: (From Left) Bhaskar Sen, CMD, United Bank fo India, R.V. Verma, CMD, National Housing Bank, Gaurav Swarup, Chairman, FICCI Eastern Region, Debashis Sen, Principal Secretary, Urban Development and Firhad Hakim, Minister for Urban Development, Country Planning and Municipal Affairs of Govt. of West Bengal are at Housing Conclave organised by FICCI in Kolkata. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhruy Oct. 10, 2012.

West Bengal Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim will be the new Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation after elected councillors of the Trinamool Congress on Thursday decided on his name in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Mr. Hakim will be the first Muslim Mayor of KMC, founded in 1876, since Independence.

An MLA from the Kolkata Port constituency, 59-year-old Hakim is one of most trusted aides of the Chief Minister. He holds a number of important portfolios like Municipal Affairs, Housing, Fire and Emergency Affairs.

“We don’t want work to suffer. From the party, we are announcing the names of Mayor and Deputy Mayor,” Ms. Banerjee said, adding that the official process of voting and notification will go on as per the laid procedure. The TMC has the support of more than 120 of the 144 councillors in KMC so the election of Mr. Hakim to the post is just a formality.

The announcement of the new Mayor was preceded by the resignation of Sovan Chatterjee from the post earlier in the day. Mr. Chatterjee had been Mayor of the city’s civic body since 2010.

Atin Ghosh, who was member Mayor-in-Council, Health, of KMC, will be the new Deputy Mayor. KMC’s Deputy Mayor Iqbal Ahmed has been unwell for some time and thus was unable to discharge his responsibilities.

The resignation came as no surprise as the Chief Minister had directed Mr. Chatterjee to quit his post. Mr. Chatterjee had on Tuesday resigned from the Council of Ministers of the State Cabinet.

Speaking to journalists later in the day, Mr. Chatterjee said he was not aware why he was asked to resign from the post of city’s Mayor. Expressing full confidence in the party and leadership of Ms. Banerjee, he also offered to quit from the post of councillor to make way for the election of a new Mayor.

Once a close confidant of the Chief Minister, Mr. Chatterjee’s fall from grace has been a subject of much speculation in political circles, particularly after his private life like become a subject of public attention.

Earlier in the day, the West Bengal Assembly passed The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018, to facilitate election of a candidate who is not a councillor of the city’s civic body as its Mayor.