Key facts
- West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced KMC elections will occur by December.
- The KMC was dissolved and an administrator appointed after the mayor's resignation.
- Elections are intended to restore an elected civic board.
- The chief minister emphasized focusing on development over political divisions.
- The KMC has been under TMC control since 2010.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced on Monday that elections for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will be held by December this year. This announcement follows the dissolution of the Trinamool Congress (TMC)-controlled civic body after Mayor Firhad Hakim's resignation and an ensuing administrative deadlock.
Adhikari stated that the KMC is currently managed by an administrator and that elected representatives will return through polls within the year. He expressed a desire for an elected body to take charge, rather than occupying the board through indirect means, emphasizing that KMC services are akin to emergency services. Elections are targeted for the first week of December.
The chief minister shared the stage with former mayor Firhad Hakim, TMC MP Mala Roy, and other former civic functionaries at the KMC headquarters. Adhikari stressed that civic administration should transcend political divisions, focusing on development and public service, with politics reserved for election periods.
The political landscape in West Bengal has shifted significantly since the BJP's victory in the assembly elections on May 4, which ended the TMC's 15-year rule. This led to resignations from several civic bodies across the state. Hakim resigned as mayor on June 5, and after a 72-hour period elapsed without a successor being elected, the municipal affairs department dissolved the corporation and appointed Smita Pandey as administrator.
The KMC had been under uninterrupted TMC control since 2010. The dissolution order stipulated that all councillors and members of the mayor-in-council would vacate their offices, as per the Kolkata Municipal Corporation Act, 1980.