The resignation of over 100 Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillors and borough heads within three weeks of the party’s loss in the assembly polls has triggered a growing crisis in the state’s local-level governance.
This spate of resignations could impact West Bengal’s preparedness for the upcoming monsoon, set to hit the state in June. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led state government has appointed administrators to temporarily run the councils and address day-to-day civic issues.
Some councillors cited the “people’s mandate” against the TMC as their reason for resigning; a few others cited “personal reasons”.
West Bengal has 128 civic bodies, which are led by the TMC. While seven are municipal corporations (Kolkata, Siliguri, Asansol, Durgapur, Howrah, Bidhannagar and Chandannagore), the rest are municipalities. Elections to all the civic bodies are likely to be held by the end of this year.
“Several TMC councillors in civic bodies across West Bengal have resigned over the past few days. In many civic bodies the TMC councillors are not coming to office and have stopped working. The monsoon season is approaching. It only reflects their irresponsibility. We had to appoint administrators in at least 25 civic bodies to run these civic bodies,” said Agnimitra Paul, state municipal affairs minister.
The BJP swept the state assembly elections held in April this year ousting the 15-year-old TMC government. While the BJP won 208 seats, the TMC won 80 seats. The new BJP government took charge on May 9.
Several TMC councillors and borough chairpersons in civic bodies resigned soon after the change of government in the state. Separately, some have also been arrested on charges of corruption, cheating and extorting money from local people
“At least 118 councillors and borough chairpersons in around eight civic bodies have resigned. Many have been arrested on various charges,” said a TMC leader, who did not wish to be quoted.
Among the municipalities hit by this resignation-spree include Bhatpara, North Barrackpore, Garulia, Halisahar, Contai, Kanchrapara and Diamond Harbour.
At least 30 out of the 35 councillors have resigned, a municipality official aware of the development said. Eight of the 16 councillors in Diamond Harbour municipality submitted their resignation to the sub-divisional officer. In North Barrackpore, at least 15 of the 20 TMC councillors, including chairman Moloy Ghosh, resigned. In Kanchrapara, 14 of the 24 councillors have put in their papers.
“Going by the ward-wise analysis of the assembly election results, we have lost in most of the wards in North Barrackpore. The people’s mandate is clear. Hence, we have resigned,” said Ghosh.
“I had no alternative. I had to resign when I saw that several councillors, including the chairperson Reba Raha, resigned. The party’s top leadership had totally stopped communicating and there was no guidance from the top. There was no pressure on me to resign,” said Debojyoti Ghosh, vice chairman of Bhatpara municipality.
“Eight councillors have resigned. The reasons are personal. No one forced us to resign. A new government has come to power. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari has promised to transform West Bengal and work for the state’s development. We have resigned looking up to him. We want development in Diamond Harbour,” said Amit Saha, a TMC councillor who resigned in Diamond Harbour
“The people have voted against the TMC in the assembly elections. I think we should accept this. That’s why 16 councillors in Halisahar municipality have resigned. I think others too should resign,” Mrityunjay Das, TMC councillor of ward number 8 in Halisahar recently told the media.
Latest in line is Susanta Ghosh, a ward councillor and the chairman of borough 12. Ghosh resigned from the borough chairman’s post on Wednesday. He had been the brough chairman for the last 10 years. In his resignation letter sent to the Kolkata’s Mayor, Ghosh cited personal reasons. Last week, Debolina Biswas, chairperson of Borough nine had resigned.
Also, over the past few days several TMC councillors have been arrested on the basis of complaints lodged by local residents on charges of cheating, extortion, post-poll clashes in 2021 and issuing threats. The list includes councillors like Sudip Polley, Surya Dey, Samrat Barua, Partha Verma, and Dipankar Bhattacharya.
HT tried to get in touch with at least three TMC leaders. They didn’t take calls.
“I am not going to comment on this. That’s not my domain,” Jay Prakash Majumdar, TMC state vice president and party spokesperson said.
