TMC councillors hold KMC monthly meeting outside ‘locked’ main chamber

Trinamool Congress councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Friday conducted the civic body's monthly meeting outside its main chamber, after finding it ''locked'' since morning, party leaders said.

The session was subsequently held in the club room of the civic body on S N Banerjee Road under the leadership of KMC Chairperson Mala Roy.

The reason behind the chamber remaining locked was not immediately known.

''The chamber was locked since morning. After an initial discussion with the councillors, it was decided that the session would be held in the club room instead,'' Deputy Mayor and Councillor of Ward No 11, Atin Ghosh, said.

The councillors arranged for chairs and tables on their own and began the proceedings in the club room, he said.

''The session continued as scheduled. We made alternative arrangements and started the proceedings,'' Ghosh said.

Meanwhile, the first monthly meeting of the KMC after the recent assembly polls, scheduled for Friday, was cancelled through a notification issued on Wednesday.

''There has been no clarification from the KMC Commissioner's office regarding the cancellation,'' a senior official of the civic body said.

Under KMC regulations, failure to hold the mandatory monthly meeting could potentially lead to a constitutional crisis, a TMC councillor claimed.

''The law is very clear; the monthly meeting is essential for the functioning of the civic body,'' he said.

KMC elections are due later this year.

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim described Friday's development as a ''grave insult'' to elected representatives.

''A dangerous precedent has been set. One cannot suddenly decide to close or open the House at will. That is entirely the chairperson's responsibility,'' Hakim asserted.

''The chairperson has to function according to the rules. What has happened today is extremely unfortunate,'' he said.

Hakim also thanked the councillors who attended the proceedings, and said the fight to protect democratic functioning would continue.

A section of TMC leaders claimed that a KMC official first issued a notice postponing Friday's session, and was later transferred from the post.

Later, the party lodged a complaint at the New Market Police Station in connection with the KMC chamber ''remaining locked''.

''It was not opened despite the instruction of the KMC chairperson,'' TMC leader Chandrima Bhattacharya alleged.

During the day, BJP councillors Sajal Ghosh, Meena Devi Purohit, Santosh Pathak and Vijay Ojha held a meeting and staged a protest against what they termed were ''illegal proceedings'' of the KMC.

The BJP councillors questioned the legality of holding the KMC meeting, after an official cancellation notice had already been issued.

''There is no legality in this process,'' a BJP councillor said.

Addressing a press conference later in the day, BJP leader Sajal Ghosh alleged that the meeting organised by the TMC councillors was ''illegal''.

''The municipal corporation is not the Trinamool Congress party office… Sessions have to be convened according to rules,'' Ghosh said.

''No opposition councillor was invited to today's session. A session cannot be conducted like this. The mayor must answer as to why the opposition was excluded,'' he said.

Ghosh warned that the BJP would not allow the House to function unless answers regarding Friday's ''illegal act'' were provided.

He also took umbrage over TMC councillors allegedly not singing the national anthem and the state anthem during the proceedings.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)