Pranab Biswas resigns, Hakim likely to contest from Ward 82

Kolkata: Pranab Biswas, Trinamool Congress councillor of Ward 82 resigned on Saturday citing health issues.

The octogenarian councillor went to the headquarters of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and submitted his resignation to Mala Roy, KMC's chairperson.

Later, Biswas told newsmen that because of ill health he could not attend the monthly and borough meetings and found it difficult to carry on.

"I had to depend on others to look after the Ward and could not attend the meetings. Under this situation, I thought it is wise to resign from the post of councillor."

Mala Roy said earlier Biswas had verbally expressed his willingness to resign. His resignation has been accepted.

Mayor Firhad Hakim who also hails from Chetla is likely to contest from the Ward in the by-election. According to the KMC rule, if the Mayor is not a councillor, then he will have to contest a by-election and win within six months from the date of getting the post.

Out of 144 Wards in the KMC, the TMC originally had 122 councillors when the civic board was constituted in 2015. Sailen Dasgupta, a councillor from Ward 117, died some time ago bringing down the number of TMC councillors to 121. The by-election in Ward 117 will be held on December 16. BJP has five councillors while the Congress and Left Front have two and 14 respectively in the KMC board.