The Mamata Banerjee government is looking at options to amend the existing Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act 1980 for selecting a new Mayor for the city, a day after Mayor Sovon Chatterjee was asked to step down from the position.
On Tuesday, at the state administrative headquarters, Nabanna, Mamata Banerjee announced that Sovon Chatterjee had resigned as minister of housing and fire services departments, and the resignation had been accepted. She also said that he had been asked to step down as the Mayor.
A day later, the government was looking at legal options for appointing a new Mayor because according to the KMC Act, only an elected councillor can be appointed as Mayor.
According to an official, the government wants to appoint someone who is not a councillor and can contest civic polls to continue in the position. These provisions need to be included in the law. It is possible that the amendment is placed in the Assembly today itself.
Urban development minister Firhad Hakim has been given additional charge of the two departments, and there are talks that he might be made Mayor as well. Names of two other senior Trinamool leaders – Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas – is also doing the rounds. Mukherjee has been Kolkata Mayor earlier.
The Bengal chief minister said that Municipal Commissioner Khalil Ahmed would look into the work of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation till a new Mayor is selected. She has also convened a meeting with all councillors of the KMC on Thursday, where she is expected to instill confidence in them in the face of this apparent “crisis”.
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