In major political development in West Bengal, Trinamool Congress heavyweight Sovan Chatterjee resigned as Cabinet Minister (Fire and Housing departments) on November 20. Party supremo Mamata Banerjee accepted the resignation immediately and also asked him to step down as Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).
Sovan Chatterjee.
Once considered one of Mamata’s closest aides and an invaluable organiser in the party, Sovan’s ignominious exit was something many had seen coming for a while. Relations between him and Mamata had grown increasingly sour in the past one year over issues relating to the Mayor’s personal life. The fact that he had fallen out of favour was made apparent in the manner in which he was shunted from important functions and events of the government and the party. Earlier this year, the Environment portfolio was taken away from him and he was removed from the post of party president of South 24 Paraganas.
A visibly irritated Mamata said after accepting his resignation, “Sovan has resigned. He had earlier submitted his resignation several times, but I had thought he would mend his ways…. He has been asked to resign from his post as Mayor too.”
An informed source in the party said: “It was not as if he was not given enough warning. The Chief Minister herself had repeatedly exhorted him to focus more on his work and not allow his personal life to come in the way of his duties. In the end, he made his own choice.”
Sovan was among the party heavyweights who were shown accepting cash in a sting operation carried out by a news portal in 2016.
Minister for Urban Development Firhad Hakim will look after the portfolios Sovan was handling and Corporation Commissioner Khalil Ahmed will be take care of the affairs of the KMC.
Sovan’s fall from grace can be compared with the unceremonious exit of Mukul Roy, another favourite of Mamata’s, in 2017. Mukul has since joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and emerged as one of the leading critics of the Mamata Banerjee government.
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