After mayor's exit, Bengal govt asks why KMC board should not be dissolved

The West Bengal government has asked the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to explain why its board should not be dissolved, issuing a show-cause notice after senior TMC leader Firhad Hakim resigned as mayor and plunging the city's civic administration into fresh uncertainty.

The Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department served a show-cause notice on the KMC under provisions of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980, directing it to explain within three days why action should not be initiated against the civic body.

The move came less than 24 hours after Hakim quit as mayor on Friday, saying he was no longer in a position to function effectively and did not wish to continue merely occupying the chair without authority.

In the notice, the BJP government contended that the civic body was failing to discharge its obligations towards Kolkata's residents and that the resignation of the mayor could adversely affect the normal functioning of the corporation and delivery of civic services.

Officials said that copies of the notice were sent to the municipal commissioner, the municipal secretary and other authorities concerned.

The government cited Section 117 of the KMC Act, which empowers it to act if a municipal corporation is unable to perform its statutory duties, persistently defaults in carrying out its responsibilities or abuses its powers.

The notice stated that in view of the present circumstances, the government was required to ascertain whether the corporation remained capable of fulfilling its constitutional and statutory obligations.

However, before any decision is taken, the law mandates that the civic body be given an opportunity to present its case. Accordingly, the KMC has been asked to submit its written response within three days.

Former Kolkata mayor and senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya argued that the government could seek an explanation from the civic body, but did not possess unfettered powers to dissolve an elected municipal board merely because the mayor had resigned.

"The government can ask whether the corporation is functioning properly and what steps it proposes to take. But the resignation of a mayor by itself does not automatically justify dissolution of the board," he said.

Former chairman of the TMC-run KMC board Satchidananda Bandyopadhyay said precedents suggest that an administrator could be appointed temporarily to ensure uninterrupted civic services.

"There have been instances in the past when the mayor had to step down, and administrators were brought in to maintain normal functioning. The priority should be ensuring that citizens continue receiving essential services," he said.

Under Section 118 of the KMC Act, if the corporation is dissolved, the offices of the mayor, councillors and members of the Mayor-in-Council would fall vacant, and the administration would be vested in persons or administrators appointed by the state government.

The notice marks the latest chapter in the political churn that has gripped the TMC following its defeat in the recent assembly elections.

Hakim, one of the party's most recognisable minority faces and among Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's longest-serving lieutenants, submitted his resignation to KMC Chairperson Mala Roy on Friday.

Explaining his decision, he said he had always worked with authority and responsibility but could no longer do so under the prevailing circumstances.

"I have worked with dignity and authority. People came to me with their problems, and I could solve them. That is no longer possible. I cannot dishonour the chair by merely occupying it," Hakim had said.

His resignation is widely seen as the strongest sign yet that the aftershocks of the TMC's electoral defeat are beginning to shake the municipal network that long underpinned the party's organisational strength and political dominance.

With the mayor's departure and no immediate successor announced by the party, the administration of the civic body is expected to increasingly shift into bureaucratic hands until the government decides on the next course of action.

The KMC has remained under TMC control since 2010, a year before Mamata Banerjee ended the Left Front's 34-year rule in West Bengal.

For more than a decade and a half, municipalities and municipal corporations served as the party's most dependable centres of influence, helping sustain its grassroots machinery across urban Bengal.

But the fortress appears increasingly fragile. In recent weeks, councillors have resigned in groups, elected representatives have distanced themselves from organisational responsibilities and civic boards in several municipalities have come under strain.

According to party and civic sources, around 100 TMC councillors across urban local bodies in the state have either resigned or withdrawn from active roles since the change of guard in Bengal.

Against that backdrop, the government's notice to the KMC carries significance far beyond a legal dispute over municipal administration.