West Bengal urban development minister Firhad Hakim was chosen the new Mayor of Kolkata by the Mamata Banerjee government. Banerjee announced this at a meeting with all Trinamool Congress councillors. Atin Ghosh was chosen Deputy Mayor.
Sovon Chatterjee – the state housing and fire services minister had resigned as minister from the state cabinet on Tuesday. At the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna, Mamata Banerjee announced that Chatterjee had resigned as minister, and that it had been accepted. She added that Chatterjee was asked to step down as the Mayor. The resignation as Mayor finally came on Thursday.
Later, the chief minister met all the councillors of her party and names of the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were announced at the end of the meeting.
Mamata Banerjee took the opportunity to say that there was no scope for insincerity in work, and each and every councillor should work hard. “People do understand if you do not work hard enough,” she said.
The Trinamool chief had long been upset with Sovon Chatterjee for several reasons. One, his tiff with his estranged wife Ratna, had come out in the open. He had filed for divorce as well. Two, he was publicly seen with a woman who is not his wife. This led to a general perception that the Mayor was neglecting his official duties and responsibilities.
However, sources say that the far more important reason is that Chatterjee has been in regular touch with his former party colleague Mukul Roy who is now with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Apparently, this is linked to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Chatterjee’s properties, the Saradha chit fun scam and the Narada tapes.
The technical procedure in appointment of Firhad Hakim as the new Mayor will be completed in a few days, the chief minister said.
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