Kolkata, Oct. 25 -- Former Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim's announcement that he would quit politics and not contest the upcoming civic polls has drawn a sharp response from MAITC MLA Kunal Ghosh, who claimed the Democratic Trinamool Congress would not be able to field candidates in all 209 seats and was making such statements for that reason.
Ghosh accused Hakim of abandoning Mamata Banerjee after the party's electoral defeat. He said Hakim had resigned as mayor unnecessarily, helping the BJP government take control of the civic body. "He has sold his spine and self-respect to BJP," Ghosh alleged. He added: "If they field candidates in 209 seats, we will understand they have the strength."
Hakim, now aligned with the Ritabrata Banerjee-led rebel camp, also sparked controversy with his remark: "But call it pain or hurt, she chose blood over devotion." Though he did not name anyone. Hakim advocated that the rebel faction contest the civic polls independently and give youngsters and Gen Z a chance. Meanwhile, rebel Trinamool MLA Madan Mitra also reportedly spoke of quitting politics while describing Mamata Banerjee as the party's "ultimate leader". However, he made contrasting remarks about Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari within 12 hours, triggering speculation over his political stance.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.