Bill passed to appoint two deputy mayors

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022, was passed at the state Assembly on Monday paving the way for the municipal corporations in the state to appoint two deputy mayors.

Five municipal corporations — Asansol, Durgapur in West Burdwan, Bidhannagar, Chandannagore in Hooghly and Siliguri under the Darjeeling district will now function with two deputy mayors. "The functioning of the administration in the municipal corporations will improve and at the same time the civic amenities will reach out to the people in a more effective manner," state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs minister Firhad Hakim said while tabling the Bill. However, there is no plan to have two deputy mayors for Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporation as of now. Asansol Municipal Corporation is already functioning with two deputy mayors after the new board of councillors got elected earlier this year.

According to sources in the state government, the state had at first wanted multiple deputy mayors for the municipal corporations. However, the Raj Bhavan had asked for not more than two deputy mayors. As soon as the discussion on the Bill began, the Opposition started shouting slogans demanding the resignation of state Correctional Administration minister Akhil Giri over his remark against President Droupadi Murmu about her looks on November 21. Earlier during the question-answer session, Speaker Biman Banerjee had rejected a no-confidence motion brought by BJP on the same issue citing the same as a sub judice matter "You should ask your party MLAs not to shout slogans. This should not go on like this," Banerjee said addressing Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. However, the shouting of slogans continued for some time and then the Opposition staged a walkout. Giri who was present at the Assembly accused Adhikari and his party of trying to gain political mileage on the issue. Giri said he has already apologised for his remark.

Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress leader Firhad Hakim accused the BJP of unnecessarily dragging the issue of the remark by Giri for garnering tribal vote. "The President of India is above all of us and we all have great respect for her. She is not the President of the BJP party. She is the President of the country. Our Chief Minister has herself condemned the statement made by Giri and our party has also cautioned him. Giri has also apologised for his remark," Hakim said.