Jalpaiguri, Sept. 16 -- The Mamata Banerjee camp in Jalpaiguri Municipality suffered a setback ahead of the proposed formation of a new municipal board, with Ward 6 councillor Subrata Pal announcing his resignation on Tuesday night.
Pal, considered a prominent face of the Kalighat-aligned Trinamool Congress camp, said he was stepping down due to health and personal reasons. His resignation comes at a crucial time when Mamata-aligned councillors are preparing to form a new board following a legal battle over the appointment of an administrator.
Speaking to reporters, Pal said: "I am taking a temporary break for health and personal reasons. I am taking a break from politics because I was unable to cope with the pressure. Therefore, I have resigned from the post of councillor. I had moved the High Court challenging the appointment of an administrator, and the Honourable High Court ruled in our favour. At the same time, my work was being affected significantly, so I have decided to take a temporary break."
Pal, however, claimed that his resignation would not create any difficulty in forming the new board.
Jalpaiguri Municipality has 25 seats, including 22 held by the Trinamool Congress, one by the Congress and one by the CPI(M). A minimum of 13 councillors is required to prove a majority.
Around 17 Trinamool councillors led by former vice-chairman Sandip Mahato had backed a no-confidence motion against then chairman Saikat Chatterjee. On August 27, Chatterjee resigned just 15 minutes before the scheduled voting.
The state Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Department subsequently dissolved the board and appointed Jalpaiguri Sadar SDO Moin Ahmed as administrator.
The Mamata-aligned councillors challenged the decision in the Calcutta High Court. The Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench later directed that the elected board be reinstated.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.