Arrest of 3 ex-mayors by CBI puts Kolkata in unique list; citizens recall Netaji – Hindustan Times

Kolkata News

As two heavyweight Bengal ministers, Subrata Mukherjee and Firhad Hakim, and former Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Sovan Chatterjee, waited in judicial custody for the next hearing of their bail petition in the Narada sting operation case, mixed reactions were heard in Kolkata as all three had served as mayor of the 300-year-old city which was also the capital of British India till 1911.

Though arrest of serving or former mayors is not new in India or other countries, Kolkata became unique for the wrong reasons on May 17 since no other city in the nation witnessed the arrest of three former mayors on the same charge, academicians and lawyers said.

Recorded in 2014, the sting videos were made public by Narada News a month before the 2016 Bengal assembly polls but the TMC leadership dismissed the clips as doctored.

The Calcutta high court and the Supreme Court asked the CBI to start an investigation in March 2017 after hearing a case filed by another former city mayor and noted lawyer Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya. He held the chair between 2005 and 2010.

Mukherjee served as mayor between 2000 and 2005 while Chatterjee took oath in 2010 and resigned in 2018. He was succeeded by Hakim who served till last year when the elected body outlived its tenure. Hakim was appointed head of the board of administrators since civic polls were not held because of the Covid19 pandemic. He was also the first Muslim mayor of Kolkata after Independence.

Some iconic figures in Bengal’s history served as mayor of Kolkata. Among them was the legendary barrister and freedom fighter Chittaranjan Das. He was the city’s mayor from 1924 to 25. His political protégé, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, held the chair between 1930 and 31.

“Arrest of mayors, be it in Brazil’s Sao Paulo or some of the east European cities, is related to corruption that crept in when capitalism replaced socialism. It is a product of neo-liberal politics. In Kolkata, most of the former mayors were part of the freedom movement. I cannot draw a comparison between them and today’s leaders. Subhas Bose, too, was arrested when he was a mayor but it was because he led a political movement demanding the removal of the Holwell monument. He was injured in baton charge,” said Shouvik Mukhopadhyay, a professor of history at Calcutta University.

“This is the first time three former mayors of an Indian city were arrested on the same charge and on the same day. But many more have been accused in this case. They have not been arrested yet. In 2016, we all saw the sting videos,” Mukhopadhyay added.

Anup Ghosh, an executive with a top private sector company and resident of Kolkata, said, “This is a unique and hilarious situation. There are no holy cows in politics and corruption charges are pending against many more. I smell politics in these arrests.”

Film director Subrata Sen, a south Kolkata resident, said, “Nobody is guilty till the crime is proved in court. It is just a coincidence that four of the three arrested men are former mayors of Kolkata. Going by the history of similar cases probed by the CBI, proving the bribery charge in this case, may not be easy.”

Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who also served as advocate general of Tripura is now a Rajya Sabha member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI(M).

“Arrest of three former mayors is unique as well as unfortunate. It is shameful for Kolkata because that chair holds a special position in history. People like Bose, Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (first chief minister of Independent Bengal), freedom fighter Jatindra Mohan Sengupta, educationist Triguna Sen were among many luminaries who served as mayor. Mamata Banerjee has blended corruption with politics. The case would not have started had we not moved court,” said Bhattacharya.

The three former mayors, who also served as ministers, are considered heavyweights in state politics.

Mukherjee, 75, took oath as panchayat and rural development minister on May 10, set a record by winning his Ballygunge seat in south Kolkata by a margin of about 72,000 votes. He started his political career in the 1960s as a Youth Congress leader and close associate of former Union minister Praya Ranjan Dasmunsi. Both were known to be close to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Between 1972 and 1977, Mukherjee served as the youngest face in the cabinet of then chief minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray. As deputy information and cultural affairs minister, Mukherjee’s job during the Emergency was to clear news reports that the Bengal media wanted to publish. While he criticised the Emergency later in life, Mukherjee acknowledged that he came to know the media better during those years.

Aged 62, housing minister Firhad Hakim is considered one of the most influential leaders in the TMC. He rose from the ranks in the TMC as a civic body councillor. He was given charge of important departments such as municipal affairs and urban development after Banerjee came to power in 2011.

Chatterjee, 57, was the mayor of Kolkata till he resigned in 2018 following differences with the leadership. Chatterjee also served as a cabinet minister. He joined the BJP in 2019 and was made election observer for the Kolkata zone. He quit the BJP after being denied a ticket.

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Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/kolkata-news/arrest-of-3-ex-mayors-by-cbi-puts-kolkata-in-unique-list-citizens-recall-netaji-101621587888479.html