Didi leaves for Delhi early, KMC councillors’ meeting called off

Kolkata: With only a handful of Trinamool Congress councillors likely to attend it, an emergency meeting — likely to be attended by party chief Mamata Banerjee — called ahead of the lapse of the 72-hour deadline to appoint an administrator for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation was cancelled on Sunday. With her plans cancelled, Banerjee instead left for New Delhi ahead of her scheduled departure time.With Trinamool not formally announcing any replacement for Firhad Hakim as Kolkata mayor, KMC is likely to have an administrator on Monday. State municipal affairs minister Agnimitra Paul said, "If we do not get a proper answer within 72 hours, an administrator will be appointed. We are waiting for the answer."While TMC has an overwhelming majority in the KMC (137 councillors out of 144), a wave of resignations has hit the party hard since BJP's win in the assembly polls. With Hakim resigning, eight councillors behind bars, and one on the run, a rebellion is also brewing in the party ranks, said sources.According to a senior neta, Sunday's meeting had been called to adopt a strategy on how to establish the party's claim to the KMC House before an administrator takes over the civic body. An administrator would run the KMC until a fresh poll is held in Nov following the expiry of the present board's tenure.This was supposed to be the third meeting of councillors convened by TMC leadership since the May 4 results, as part of attempts to hold the KMC fort. According to KMC rules, in the event of a mayor resigning, the party in office can field a new candidate who must undergo a floor test. In the first meeting, Hakim was requested to continue in his post, a source said. However, in a subsequent meeting, when Hakim requested the party chief to ‘release' him from his responsibility, seniors proposed former mayor Sovan Chatterjee's name as interim mayor.Hakim-loyalist councillors made it clear that there was no point in claiming a stake in the civic board after the ‘changed' political scenario, as it might further endanger the party's position. "In the event of a secret ballot to pick the interim mayor, and considering a split in the party, we cannot take chances. It may lead to a disaster," said a Trinamool functionary.According to a KMC councillor from Tollygunge, the cancellation of the meeting came as a shock. "We were preparing for a fight to establish our claim. But we were told to wait until fresh instructions reached us. We were also told to wait for a virtual meet. We have been kept in the dark about the cancellation of such a vital meeting," the councillor said.Ward 74 councillor Debolina Biswas said KMC chairperson Mala Roy had called her on Saturday night, asking her to attend the meeting at Trinamool Bhavan on Sunday at 4pm. "I did not give an answer. I had decided not to attend any such meeting... of Trinamool," she said. "Instead of self-introspection, TMC netas are blaming others... a politics of imposition is on. I had even thought of stepping down as councillor but did not because that could lead to problems for the public during the pre-monsoon rains," Biswas added.