Kolkata, June 3 (IANS) Former state minister Firhad Hakim on Wednesday resigned as the Mayor of Kolkata. According to Trinamool Congress sources, he took the decision after taking permission from party supremo Mamata Banerjee.

On Wednesday, several Trinamool MLAs reached the state secretariat Nabanna to attend an administrative meeting at the invitation of Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari. Among them was Kolkata Port MLA Firhad Hakim. He resigned from the post of Mayor of Kolkata after returning from there.

Trinamool MLA Kunal Ghosh said that one cannot work in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) at the moment. Firhad had told Trinamool leader Mamata about this. According to Kunal, “The leader forbade him (to resign). But Firhad said that he wanted to resign with dignity. After this, Mamata agreed.”

In November 2018, Firhad, the then urban development minister of the state, became the Mayor of Kolkata. In fact, he became the first Muslim mayor of the KMC, which was established in 1876. After that, he sat on the mayor’s seat for the second time in 2021 as the MLA of Kolkata Port constituency and councillor of Ward No. 82 of Kolkata. After handling the ministry and the mayor’s post for almost eight years, Firhad suddenly resigned on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Tarak Singh resigned as the mayor-in-council of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. He targeted Firhad Hakim and praised Chief Minister Suvendu by announcing that he would not contest elections on the Trinamool symbol.

According to Tarak, “The party leadership is not providing any protection to its workers and supporters. That is why he has no desire to sit in that cold room and listen to the words of wisdom.” After Tarak’s resignation, Firhad had said, “We work as a team. Whatever we do, we will do together.”

Meanwhile, Wednesday was an eventful day for the Trinamool Congress as expelled Trinamool MLA Ritabrata Banerjee became the Leader of the Opposition with the support of 58 MLAs.

Soon after that, the Trinamool decided to dissolve all the party committees in the state. There is curiosity about whether the Trinamool leadership took this strategic step to prevent the possibility of a breakup in the party. Some believe that Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee is trying to reorganise the student, youth, workers and women’s organisations in the atmosphere of the party’s debacle in Assembly elections and the possibility of a breakup after that.

–IANS

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