Firhad Hakim Resigns As Kolkata Mayor, Says He Doesn't Want To Hold Office 'For The Sake Of It'

Kolkata: After Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Mayor Krishna Chakraborty, now Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Mayor Firhad Hakim on Friday had resigned from his Mayor’s post.

Talking to the media, Hakim said he doesn’t want to grab the chair of the Mayor unnecessarily.

“I was Mayor and Municipal Affairs Minister as well. I have worked hard to serve the people of Kolkata. Now working with the same enthusiasm is not possible. I just don’t want to hold the chair for the sake of it. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sidhartha Shankar Roy, Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das were once the Mayors of the city and now if I hold on to this chair it will be an insult for the saints,” said Hakim.

Notably, after Hakim’s resignation the municipal affairs board is also at the verge of breaking.

Incidentally Hakim has been KMC’s Mayor since 2018 after former Mayor Sovandeb Chattopadhyay had resigned from the post.

“I have done many works and some works have started but are incomplete. I hope that whoever becomes the new Mayor will complete those works. I thank the people of the city who along with us have overcome several challenges including COVID. I wanted to move on with my head high so I requested my party leader and she had granted me the permission,” further added Hakim.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA and councillor Sajal Ghosh mentions that Kolkata is ‘blessed’ that Hakim has resigned.
“The problem of waterlogging instead of decreasing has increased in Kolkata during monsoons. People started comparing Kolkata with Venice during monsoons. We will develop Kolkata. Hakim should first clear which group he belongs to, whether the rebel camp or the other camp. This is actually an escape route to avoid mob fury,” mentioned the BJP MLA and councillor.