Sovan Chatterjee resigns as Kolkata Mayor, Firhad Hakim likely to take over
Kolkata, Nov 22 (IBNS): Days after stepping down as West Bengal housing and fire services minister as his personal life played out in mainstream media, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sovan Chatterjee on Thursday resigned from the post of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC)'s Mayor, reports said.
The state's urban development minister Firhad (Bobby) Hakim, considered a confidant of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is likely to become the new mayor of the eastern metropolis.
According to reports, Sovan Chatterjee's personal security guards put forward his resignation letter before KMC chairperson Mala Roy in the noon.
"I've received and accepted Sovan Chatterjee's resignation letter," Mala Roy told IBNS.
KMC MIC (Health) Atin Ghosh will be the new deputy mayor.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sovan Chatterjee resigned from the Mamata cabinet and the TMC supremo had directed him to step down as Kolkata Mayor immediately.
The personal life of Sovan Chatterjee has been the talking point in Bengal.
His estrangement with wife Ratna (he has filed a divorce suit) and his rumoured extra-marital affair with a married woman- Baishakhi Banerjee (Chatterjee called her a close friend who stood by him in difficult times)- has played out in media over the months.
Almost all Bengali news channels beamed his personal life yesterday in prime time with wife Ratna Chatterjee accusing Baishakhi Banerjee of taking him in the wrong path even as Chatterjee vehemently contested it holding that the woman his wife tried to vilify is a "friend in need" who helped him with legal matters during the Narada scam.
Baishaki Banerjee is the teacher-in-charge of Milli-Al-Ameen College For Girls in Beckbagan while her husband Manojit Mandal, who rubbished the charges of Ratna Chatterjee against his wife, is a professor in Jadavpur University.
(Reporting by Deepayan Sinha)
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