Kolkata, June 7 (IANS) Trinamool Congress Chief and former West Bengal Chief Minister on Sunday cancelled her crucial meeting with her party councillors in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

An intimation about the cancellation of the meeting has already been sent to the councillors who were earlier asked to be present at the party’s state headquarters, Trinamool Bhavan, on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata on Sunday.

However, the councillors have not specified any reason behind the cancellation.

It is further learnt that Mamta Banerjee has decided to fly to New Delhi to attend a meeting of the opposition INDIA bloc on Monday.

Her nephew and the Trinamool Congress’ general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, left for New Delhi on Saturday.

Sunday’s meeting with the councillors of KMC was said to be crucial amid the resignation of Firhad Hakim, the former West Bengal Municipal Affairs & Urban Development Minister and ex-Mayor of the KMC.

Following his resignation last week, the new state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has sent a notice to the KMC authorities on Saturday evening asking the latter to clarify why the current Trinamool Congress-controlled board in KMC should not be dissolved amid the mayor’s resignation.

The current KMC board is undergoing a crisis, not just because of the resignation of Hakim from the Mayor post, but also because of the resignations of a few other elected representatives on the board, including a Member (Mayor-in-Council) and a couple of borough chairmen.

The notice has been served amid legal complications over the continuation of the Trinamool Congress-controlled board, following arguments and counter-arguments between KMC Chairperson Mala Roy and the state Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department.

The state government department has argued that under Section 117(1) of the KMC Act, 1980, which empowers the state government to dissolve the corporation, the Trinamool Congress-run board should cease to continue following the resignation of the Mayor.

Apart from that, since the results for the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections were announced on May 4 till Sunday morning, the police have arrested a total of eight Trinamool Congress councillors in KMC on various charges like corruption, extortion and even inappropriate behaviour towards women.

–IANS

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