Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chatterjee has resigned today as a minister in the West Bengal government. Following the sudden move, CM Mamata Banerjee also asked him to quit as mayor. For now, urban affairs minister Firhad Hakim will head the Kolkata municipal corporation.
Chatterjee and Mamata Banerjee’s favorite shared a cordial relationship at one time.
But trouble was brewing between the two over problems in Mr. Chatterjee’s personal life that had gone public and become an embarrassment for Ms. Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress. Of the three portfolios — fire services, housing, and environment — he lost environment some months ago.
But what triggered the resignation was Chatterjee’s statement in Assembly today that 25 lakh houses had been provided. Mamata Banerjee stood up and said the actual number of houses provided was 40 lakh. The opposition slammed both the minister and chief minister over this. Apparently, this episode turned Mamata furious.
Around 4 pm, Mr Chatterjee submitted his resignation as minister to CM’s office. Mamata Banerjee is believed to have immediately sent the letters to the Raj Bhavan.
The resignation is the first shock that the Trinamool has received ever. Mr Chatterjee was not just mayor and minister, he was also in charge of the party’s South 24 Parganas district unit. Party observers also believe he is a key moneybags man for the Trinamool. His was one of many targets of the Narada sting operation of 2016 when journalist Mathew Samul secretly recorded Trinamool MPs and ministers taking cash as bribes. The matter is still in court.
Sovan Chatterjee’s estranged wife, Ratna, spoke to media after his resignation. “I don’t know how a man who was a dedicated worker of the Trinamool, one of Mamata Banerjee’s favorite party workers has become like this,” she said.
“Didi told him, fine, you don’t want to go back to your wife, that’s your business, but you must concentrate on your work,” Ratna Chatterjee said, adding, “but he didn’t listen. He was influenced by some dirty people. I will not even bring their name to my lips,” she added.