Firhad Hakim elected as first muslim mayor of Kolkata
Kolkata, Dec 3: West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim on Monday became the first Muslim since independence to be elected as the Kolkata mayor.
Hakim secured 121 votes in the 144-member Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) to win the mayoral election. BJP's Meena Devi Purohit bagged five votes, while 12 Left Front and two Congress councillors had boycotted the election.
The result of the election, conducted through secret ballots, was announced by the civic body's municipal secretary, Harihar Prasad Mondal. It was necessitated following the resignation of Sovan Chatterjee from the post on November 22.
Hakim, who also holds the portfolio of municipal affairs, said his victory was also a "moral defeat" for the BJP.
Purohit had claimed last week that she would receive more votes than her party's strength in the KMC, hinting at a possibility of cross-voting. The election results, however, indicated that there was no cross-voting.
The TMC has 122 seats in the KMC House, the Left Front 14, the BJP five, the Congress two, while one seat is vacant. Sources said one TMC councillor gave the election a miss due to ill-health.
After being elected the 29th mayor of the city since independence, Hakim said he should be known by his work and not by his religion and spelt out various development initiatives.
"I will work for the development and beautification of the city. I will work towards making the city pollution-free," he said.
Hakim said the people would get tax rebates if they took up efforts to plant trees in their houses. He also stressed on waste management and recycling to keep the city clean.
The new mayor also announced a WhatsApp number, asking the citizens to inform about their problems and come up with suggestions to improve the municipal services.
Steps would be taken to ensure that there was no waterlogging in the city during heavy rainfall, he said.
Last week, CPI(M) councillor Bilquis Begum had moved the Calcutta High Court challenging Hakim's candidature in the mayoral polls on the ground that he was not a councillor from any ward of the civic body. The high court had on Friday refused to stay the election.
Hakim, was chosen as the mayor designate by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) councillors on November 22 in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Talking to media after the announcement of the poll results, Hakim's predecessor Chatterjee extended his best wishes to the new mayor. "I am sure the KMC will function well under the leadership of the new mayor," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
UP woman kills husband, buries body in house: Police
Shahjahanpur (UP), Aug 11: A woman allegedly killed her husband and buried him in their house following a quarrel, police said on Thursday.
However, the woman told the police that her husband died by suicide.
According to the FIR in the case, Govind, a resident of Khamaria village under the Gadiya Rangan police station, had a fight with his wife Shilpi on August 7 after which she killed him, dug a pit in the house and buried him there.
The matter came to light only after a foul smell started emanating from the house. Thereafter, locals informed the mother of the deceased who lived in Nashik, Maharashtra police said.
Police have taken the body into their possession, Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sanjeev Bajpai said.
During preliminary interrogation, the woman told the police that her husband was a habitual drinker and a fight had taken place between them on Sunday, he said.
The woman said she went to sleep on the terrace of the house and her husband slept downstairs. In the night, he hanged himself, Bajpai said.
The woman said she got scared and dug a pit in the house and buried the body there, he said.
The body has been sent for post-mortem and the matter is being investigated, police said.
