A few days after TMC MLA Kunal Ghosh said party chief Mamata Banerjee had accepted Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim's request to resign from the post, Hakim announced his resignation.
Hakim, a former state minister and one of the most prominent faces of the TMC, submitted his resignation amid the turmoil in the party. There have been reports that there was a growing dissatisfaction within the TMC leadership over Hakim's participation in an administrative meeting convened by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at Nabanna earlier this week.
In his resignation letter, Hakim, the first Muslim mayor of the city since Independence, reportedly said he was unable to function properly in the wake of the power struggle within the party.
Announcing his resignation, he thanked the party chief and said, "I am thankful to our leader, Mamata Banerjee. In December 2018, I was elected (as the mayor) by the councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation after the abrupt resignation of former mayor Sovan Chatterjee. I carried all my responsibilities honestly...Now I am not able to shoulder this responsibility because I believe that the Mayor's chair is not only a chair, it's a responsibility."
“I will say why I am tendering my resignation. Firhad Hakim is no one, but the chair on which the predecessors sat had a different charm. Now that enthusiasm is not possible, hence I cannot insult this chair,” he said.
The outgoing mayor made the announcement incidentally in the backdrop of a poster of CM Adhikari.
Sources said the resignation has been forwarded to the appropriate authorities.
Hakim, also an MLA, had been serving as the mayor of KMC since November 2018.
Hakim, popularly known as "Bobby Da," said he had undertaken several initiatives for the city, including leading relief efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, facilitating vaccine trials, addressing waterlogging issues in various parts of the city, and launching the people-friendly initiative, 'Talk to the Mayor'.
The municipal corporation elections are slated to be held in December this year. KMC has been finding it hard to function amid the saffron wave that had swept the state. It remains unclear what direction the KMC will take in the days ahead.
A close aide of Mamata Banerjee, Hakim continues to be a TMC MLA and remains loyal to the party supremo, even as 58 rebel MLAs have reportedly defected to a rival faction backing Ritabrata Banerjee as the new Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.
