KOLKATA: Firhad Hakim, a four-time Trinamool Congress MLA and a close aide of party supremo and former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, finally resigned on Friday afternoon as Mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is ruled by the party.
On Wednesday, Hakim, who is also a councillor of KMC Ward 82, had expressed his desire to quit as mayor to Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence, citing difficulties in functioning in the Kolkata civic body, particularly after the BJP formed the government in West Bengal by securing 208 out of 294 Assembly constituencies in the recent state elections.
On Thursday, Krishna Chakraborty, another Trinamool Congress leader and Mamata Banerjee's long-time associate since 1984, also resigned as Mayor of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the second-largest municipal body in West Bengal after the KMC.
Chakraborty tendered her resignation to the BMC Commissioner, citing personal reasons and expressing a desire to focus on her role as a councillor after serving as mayor for the past 16 consecutive years.
Speaking to reporters at the KMC headquarters on S N Banerjee Road in Esplanade after stepping down, Hakim said, "Firhad Hakim is nobody. Our revered personalities have sat on this seat. I was the Municipal Affairs Minister and Mayor. I did a lot for the city. That is no longer possible now. I don't want to occupy the chair of the mayor."
“I requested our party chief Mamata Banerjee that I want to leave with my head held high,” said Hakim.
With Hakim's resignation, the new BJP government may dissolve the Trinamool Congress-run KMC board and appoint an administrator to run the civic body, which is scheduled to go to polls by the end of this year.
“Mamata Banerjee can ask someone among the Trinamool Congress councillors to take over the mayoral post because we still have six months to serve the people of Kolkata. The state has not dissolved the board yet. In that case, there is nothing we can do,” a party councillor said.
In the 144-member KMC, the BJP now leads in 102 wards following the Assembly elections, while the Trinamool Congress leads in the remaining 42. In the 2021 Kolkata civic body polls, the Trinamool Congress had won 134 wards.
After the change in power in West Bengal, over 100 chairpersons and councillors across around 113 civic bodies have resigned, while a few have been arrested.
In the KMC, two councillors have resigned, one of whom was also a borough chairman, while another borough chairman has stepped down. Meanwhile, four councillors have been arrested in extortion cases.
With Chakraborty's resignation, the Trinamool Congress-run BMC, popularly known as the Salt Lake Municipal Corporation, is also expected to move out of the former ruling party's administrative control.
On Wednesday, Mamata Banerjee had initially prevented Hakim from resigning as Kolkata mayor but later gave him clearance to step down.
Trinamool Congress MLA and party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh had told the media on Wednesday, “The working environment in the Kolkata civic body is not congenial and that is why Firhad Hakim informed our leader Mamata Banerjee of his desire to resign because of difficulties in functioning as mayor.”
“Initially, she prevented him from quitting the mayor's post, but he wanted to resign with dignity. After that, Mamata gave her nod,” Ghosh said.
Hakim is the first Muslim mayor of the KMC since its formation in 1876. He became Kolkata mayor in 2018 and has since simultaneously held the posts of minister and mayor.
In a bid to retain administrative control over the KMC, Mala Roy, the KMC Chairperson and a member of the “old Trinamool” led by Mamata Banerjee, has convened a monthly meeting of the civic body on June 19.
Earlier, on May 22, an unprecedented incident took place at the KMC headquarters in Esplanade when Trinamool Congress councillors arrived to attend a monthly meeting called by Roy but were unable to enter the conference hall because it had been locked from outside. The matter was later taken to the Calcutta High Court seeking intervention.
Following the High Court's directive, Roy has now convened another meeting on June 19.