West Bengal: TMC Leader and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim Resigns

Senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said on Wednesday that Firhad Hakim would step down as Kolkata mayor after Mamata Banerjee accepted a fresh request, even as the party faced dissent in the West Bengal Assembly and in municipalities across the state, according to a PTI report.

Ghosh said Hakim earlier sought permission from the TMC chief to leave the mayor’s post, claiming difficulty in running the corporation after the BJP came to power in West Bengal, but the leadership initially refused. An official notification of Hakim’s resignation was still awaited on Wednesday. “At that time, he was asked not to resign. However, he again requested Mamata Banerjee today to allow him to step down, following which she agreed," Ghosh told reporters.

TMC West Bengal Assembly leadership tussle

Contest over the Leader of Opposition post in the West Bengal Assembly intensified on Wednesday, when at least 58 of the 80 MLAs elected in the recent polls unanimously backed expelled TMC leader Ritabrata Banerjee for the position. The West Bengal Speaker accepted a letter carrying the signatures of these 58 MLAs, while two more MLAs supporting the group were reported by HT to be currently outside the state.

The move regarding the West Bengal Assembly came after the TMC recently named senior MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay as Leader of Opposition, drawing protests from Ritabrata Banerjee and MLA Sandipan Saha, who questioned signatures on an earlier letter backing Chattopadhyay. Their complaints prompted the West Bengal CID to start an inquiry into suspected forged signatures on official documents, following which the party expelled both leaders.

TMC West Bengal Assembly tensions spread to civic bodies

While the West Bengal Assembly saw rival claims over the opposition leadership, the TMC also faced unrest in civic bodies, with PTI reporting that councillors in several municipalities resigned in groups. Many other elected representatives reportedly stopped attending office, and more than 100 councillors were said to have stepped down, underlining wider organisational strain beyond the state legislature.

The pending formalisation of Firhad Hakim’s resignation as Kolkata mayor, the push by 58 MLAs to recognise Ritabrata Banerjee as Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, and the reported wave of municipal resignations together showed the TMC confronting internal challenges at multiple tiers of governance in West Bengal.