Why TMC-run Kolkata civic body is targeting Abhishek Banerjee

Bengal is no stranger to mysteries. After all, it's the land of popular fictional detectives Byomkesh Bakshi and Feluda. However, the present mystery in Bengal's political corridors stands out for its sheer irony. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is controlled by the TMC, has sent demolition notices to 17 properties linked to the party's own MP and Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee. It has sparked a buzz over a possible rift within the Trinamool ranks. Nevertheless, the incident has stirred a massive whodunnit.

The controversy started on Tuesday after the KMC, which is headed by the mayor and Mamata's close aide Firhad Hakim, sent notices to 17 Kolkata properties linked to Abhishek over alleged unauthorised construction. The addresses include those of Abhishek's mother, father, and his company, Leaps and Bounds. 'Shantiniketan', Abhishek's residence at Harish Mukherjee Road, also received a notice. The KMC directed that unauthorised construction must be demolished within seven days.

BJP OUTS LIST OF 43 PROPERTIES

The row deepened on Wednesday after the BJP released a list of 43 properties allegedly linked to Abhishek Banerjee, including several said to be jointly owned with his aides. The list was taken from the Kolkata civic body database. However, as pointed out by TMC leader Saket Gokhale, the list contained properties owned by people named Abhishek Banerjee and not specifically by the Diamond Harbour MP.

"It's merely a name-based search from the website. Is there only one person with the name Abhishek Banerjee in all of Kolkata?" Gokhale tweeted.

However, the larger question remains. Why would a TMC-controlled civic body go after its own MP and the party's No.2? Expectedly, Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim has come under scrutiny. In the past, friction between Hakim (representing the party's old guard) and Abhishek has surfaced on several occasions. We will come to this a bit later.

Amid the controversy, a nervous Hakim told reporters that he had no knowledge about the notices. "I do not know about this. Elected representatives handle policy matters. It does not need to be reported to the mayor," the former Bengal minister said.

"Decisions on who will be issued notices by the KMC building department are not policy matters. Executive work is carried out under the KMC commissioner's instructions," he further said.

When asked if the BJP, after securing a historic win in Bengal, was not letting him discharge his duties, the Kolkata mayor said he would speak on it later.

Abhishek, however, has said little amid the row. The Lok Sabha MP said he would not "bow down" even if the government razed down his house.

TMC VS TMC PLAYING OUT?

According to a report in Sangbad Pratidin, Mamata Banerjee is also furious with Hakim over the notices being sent to her nephew's properties. She brought up the matter during a meeting with the Kolkata mayor and members of the mayoral council and demanded an explanation.

Hakim, however, claimed he knew nothing about the notices and that they were issued without his knowledge, the report said.

His answer added another layer to the intrigue. How can a civic body send demolition notices without the mayor even knowing about it?

As per the Sangbad Pratidin report, the notices were issued to Abhishek under Section 401 of the Kolkata Municipal Act. Under this provision, the municipal commissioner has the authority to issue such notices independently. But still, the Kolkata civic body is under TMC control.

Interestingly, 14 of the 17 properties to which notices have been sent are located in Kolkata's borough IX. This covers areas such as Alipore, Chetla and Kalighat.

On Tuesday, the Trinamool councillor in charge of borough IX, Debalina Biswas, resigned from her post. Biswas claimed she was pressured by the TMC party's top leadership after the KMC served notices to Abhishek. "I wasn't even aware when the notice went out," she said.

Sources within the TMC told AajTak Bangla that the resignation might have come at the behest of a faction within the top party leadership.

TMC vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar told the media that with a new government coming to power, the party expected some "political steps and drama".

It has been speculated that some junior staffer in the KMC might have put out the list of 43 properties linked to Abhishek Banerjee. The back-to-back developments have raised questions about whether the KMC is no longer under the direct control of the Trinamool.

"The real story is not that the nephew (Abhishek Banerjee) received a notice. The real story is that the notice was sent by Bobby (Firhad) Hakim's Kolkata Municipal Corporation," a political analyst, Siddhartha Sengupta, posted.

This brings to focus the tumultuous ties between Hakim and Abhishek Banerjee.

The tensions spilt out in the open in 2023 after Hakim, as Kolkata mayor, hiked the parking fees in the city. The move, however, was openly snubbed by TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh, seen as a loyalist of Abhishek. Within hours of Ghosh's press conference, the KMC withdrew the parking fee hike.

Such differences have time and again highlighted the divide within the party leadership between its senior leaders, like Hakim, and its youth brigade led by Abhishek.

Whether the present development of the TMC-controlled KMC sending notices to Mamata's nephew is another instance of the Hakim-Abhishek friction out in the open or some deeper conspiracy remains a mystery. It's now up to Byomkesh or Feluda to solve it.