The Trinamool Congress-controlled Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) board faced a severe crisis on Thursday after Municipal Secretary Swapan Kumar Kundu postponed the KMC House meeting, where key policy decisions are taken. The move, which bypassed the chairperson's consent, led to Kundu's immediate transfer and raised questions about internal conflicts within the civic body.
Postponement Without Consent
According to the KMC Act, the chairperson of the civic board gives approval for the monthly House meeting, which ratifies policy decisions made in mayor-in-council meetings. The municipal secretary convenes the House on behalf of the chairperson. However, Trinamool MP Mala Roy, the KMC chairperson, stated that she was not consulted before the postponement. “According to rules, the municipal secretary must seek my consent before announcing such a decision,” Roy asserted. An official revealed that Kundu was initially reluctant to postpone the meeting but acted following instructions from a senior state municipal affairs department official.
Transfer and Escalation
Within an hour of issuing the postponement notice, Kundu was transferred to the state gazetteers department at Bikash Bhavan as an officer on special duty. Kishore Kumar Biswas, deputy secretary of the East Burdwan zilla parishad, has been appointed as the new KMC secretary. The crisis deepened as the mayor-in-council meeting scheduled for Monday was also postponed. A KMC official noted that the serving of notices to properties allegedly owned or co-owned by Trinamool General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee by the civic buildings and assessment departments indicated the ongoing flux within the KMC.
Mayor's Concern
A worried Mayor Firhad Hakim called Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey to his chamber on Thursday to express his concern. Sources in the mayor's office said Hakim emphasized the importance of the monthly meeting, warning that without it, the board would be unable to pass any policy decisions, leading to an impasse and hampering the board's proper functioning. “If we fail to hold the House once a month, the functioning of the civic board will cease and the board will become defunct,” Hakim reportedly told councillors assembled at his chamber.
Surprise Over Property Notices
Senior KMC officials expressed surprise at the civic board's decision to issue tax, ownership, and building plan violation notices to Abhishek Banerjee without informing the mayor. “Executive engineers were asked to paste notices on properties either owned or co-owned by Banerjee, his family, or his company, which is a rarity in the history of the civic body,” said a KMC official. This move has further escalated tensions within the Trinamool-led civic administration.
