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Firhad Hakim

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Firhad Hakim
Hakim at Howrah, 2018
38th Mayor of Kolkata
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 3, 2018
GovernorKeshari Nath Tripathi
DeputyAtin Ghosh
Preceded bySovan Chatterjee
ConstituencyWard No. 82
Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 20, 2011
ConstituencyKolkata Port
MLA for Kolkata Port
Incumbent
Assumed office
May 13, 2011
GovernorM. K. Narayanan
Keshari Nath Tripathi
Preceded byConstituency created
MLA
In office
10 November 2009 – 13 May 2011
Preceded byTapas Paul
Succeeded byconstituency abolished
ConstituencyAlipore
Personal details
Born1 January 1959 (1959-01) (age 65)[1]
Kolkata, India
Political partyAll India Trinamool Congress Indian National Congress
SpouseIsmat Hakim
ChildrenPriyadarshini Hakim, Shabba Hakim, Afshaa Hakim
Residence(s)6A Peari Mohan Roy Road, Chetla, Kolkata - 700027[2]
Alma materHeramba Chandra College (B.Com. in commerce)

Firhad "Bobby" Hakim (born 1 January 1959) is an Indian politician serving as the Mayor of Kolkata since 2018 and Minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs of West Bengal since 2011.

A member of the All India Trinamool Congress party, Hakim was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly in 2009. Two years later, he became a cabinet minister in the Mamata Banerjee ministry. On December 2018, he was elected mayor following the resignation of the incumbent Sovan Chatterjee. He is the first Muslim since independence of India to become the mayor of the city. Hakim is the organizer-in-chief of the Chetla Agrani Durga Puja committee.

Personal life

Hakim's grandfather migrated from Gaya district of Bihar to Kolkata and started his business. Hakim's father Abdul Hakim was a law officer of Kolkata Port Trust. Hakim's mother, Manika Mukhopadhyay is a Hindu and was an assistant head-mistress of a school in Kolkata. Her ancestral house is at Faridpur district, Bangladesh. Hakim is married to Ismat Hakim. They have three daughters - Priyadarshini, Shabba and Afsha.[1] They live at Chetla, a neighborhood of South Kolkata.[3] Hakim is nicknamed Bobby after the Australian cricketer Bobby Simpson.[4]

Hakim graduated from the Heramba Chandra College with a degree in commerce.[5] He is the organizer-in-chief of the Chetla Agrani Durga Puja committee.[6]

Ministerial career

In late 1990s, Hakim was elected as a councilor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation first.[3] On 11 November 2009, he was elected to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Alipore constituency after defeating Communist Party of India (Marxist) candidate, Kaustav Chatterjee by a margin of 27,555 votes in the by-poll.[7]

In 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Hakim won from Kolkata Port constituency as a candidate of All India Trinamool Congress. He was polled 63,866 votes and defeated his nearest rival, Moinuddin Shams of All India Forward Bloc by a margin of 25,033 votes.[8] Later, he became the Cabinet Minister of Urban Development and Municipal Affairs in the First Mamata Banerjee ministry.[5][9]

On 3 March 2013, the Ultadanga Flyover (located in East Kolkata) collapsed, leaving three people injured. Hakim blamed a crack that was detected in the flyover as a reason behind the collapse. He said that the problem was "not related to maintenance but a technical fault in the bolt system".[10] On June 2014, he announced that 22 new municipalities would be created in West Bengal.[11]

In 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Hakim defeated his nearest rival, Rakesh Singh of the Left Front - Indian National Congress alliance by a margin of 26,548 votes.[12][13] On 16 June 2017, he was appointed Chairman of the Tarakeswar Development Board.[14]

Mayor of Kolkata

On 20 November 2018, Sovan Chatterjee, the then Mayor of Kolkata, resigned as a cabinet minister.[15] Two days later, he resigned from the post of the Mayor of Kolkata.[16] Later, Trinamool Congress announced that Hakim would be their Mayoral candidate. The state government passed the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018, by the virtue of which a candidate who is not a member of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation could be appointed as the mayor of the city, provided he gets elected to the same within a period of six months.[17][18]

On 28 November 2018, Hakim filed his nomination.[19] In the following day, Bharatiya Janata Party announced Mina Debi Purohit (former Deputy Mayor) as their mayoral candidate.[20] He secured 121 votes while Purohit was polled 5 votes and was hence elected as the mayor.[21] Hakim became the first Muslim since independence of India to get elected as the Mayor of Kolkata.[22][3]

On getting elected, Hakim said that "pollution and environment are two areas" on which he would like to work. He also setup a WhatsApp number, promising to act on complaints received on that mobile number.[21] Making Kolkata cleaner and greener, ensuring continuous supply of drinking water to the city, building toilets in slums and making the slums "model residential areas" were his priorities as the mayor.[23]

On January 2019, it was announced that Hakim would contest from ward no. 82 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.[24] In by-election, he won from the ward and defeated his nearest rival Jiban Sen of Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 13,987 votes. Hakim was polled 16,564 votes.[25]

Controversies

In 2016, the Narada sting operation video was released, in which Hakim was seen allegedly taking bribes.[26] On 19 September 2017, he was questioned for eight hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation at Nizam Palace on the sting operation. Hakim said that the CBI probe was a "political conspiracy" against his party and said that "he was not seen taking cash in any of the footage."[27]

Before the 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Hakim while speaking to Maleeha Hamid Sidiqqui of Pakistani newspaper Dawn referred to his constituency as "mini-Pakistan".[4][28] However, he denied making such a statement. He said "she [the Pakistani journalist] only asked me that this place looks like Karachi of Pakistan. I did not make any comment."[29] He also said that he was "being targeted for being a Muslim and that it was a communal conspiracy".[28]

References

  1. ^ a b "ভাবী মেয়র ফিরহাদ হাকিম সম্পর্কে যে তথগুলি আপনি জানেন না" [Information about the mayor-elect Firhad Hakim which you do not know] (in Bengali). Puber Kolom. 23 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Dial M for MLA". Telegraph India. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Bhattashali, Amitabha (23 November 2018). "ফিরহাদ হাকিম: স্বাধীনতা-উত্তর কলকাতার এই প্রথম মুসলমান মেয়র ঠিক কেমন মানুষ?" [Firhad Hakim: Who is this first Muslim mayor of post-independence Kolkata] (in Bengali). BBC. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b Siddiqui, Maleeha Hamid (29 April 2016). "Canvassing in 'mini-Pakistan' of Kolkata". Dawn. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  5. ^ a b Haque, Zaidul (8 June 2011). "Muslim Ministers of West Bengal: An introduction". Two Circles. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  6. ^ Chakrabarti, Rakhi (10 August 2015). "Club rivalry peaks in Kolkata as Puja nears". The Times of India. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  7. ^ "Bypolls: Left crumbles, Maya stages a comeback". Rediff. 11 November 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Kolkata port constituency election results 2011 : Firhad Hakim AITC WINS - West Bengal". News Reporter. 13 May 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  9. ^ "10 crorepatis in Mamata's ministry". Hindustan Times. 27 May 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  10. ^ "Large portion of Kolkata flyover collapses". NDTV. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  11. ^ "West Bengal to Have 22 New Municipalities". Outlook India. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  12. ^ "LIST: 59 Muslim MLA elected in West Bengal assembly elections". The Siasat Daily. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  13. ^ "বন্দরে জোটের শক্তিও সমান। জয়ের অঙ্ক টলমলে ফিরহাদের" [The strength of the alliance is same is port. Firhad's win is not sure] (in Bengali). Ebela. 2 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  14. ^ "তারকেশ্বর উন্নয়ন বোর্ডের চেয়ারম্যানের দায়িত্ব পেলেন ফিরহাদ" [Firhad becomes the Chairman of Tarakeswar Development Board] (in Bengali). Ebela. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  15. ^ "শোভন-বৈশাখীর প্রেম, যে যে কারণে শেষ কয়েকমাস বিতর্কে ছিল এই জুটি" [Sovan-Baisakhi relationship, the reasons for which this couple was at the centre of a controversy for the last couple of months] (in Bengali). News 18. 20 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  16. ^ "Two days after stepping down from Cabinet, Sovan Chatterjee resigns as Kolkata mayor". The Indian Express. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  17. ^ Das, Soumya (22 November 2018). "Kolkata Mayor resigns, Hakim is TMC's Mayoral candidate". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  18. ^ "Minister Firhad Hakim New Mayor Of Kolkata After Sovan Chatterjee Quits". NDTV. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  19. ^ "Hakim submits nomination for post of KMC Mayor". Millenium Post. 28 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  20. ^ "BJP joins battle for Calcutta mayor post". The Telegraph. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  21. ^ a b Subhajoy Roy; Sandip Chowdhury (4 December 2018). "WhatsApp is Calcutta mayor Hakim's medium". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  22. ^ "Kolkata gets its first Muslim mayor, Firhad Hakim". The Indian Express. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  23. ^ Chowdhury, Sandip (5 December 2018). "Mayor Firhad Hakim outlines his plan for Calcutta". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  24. ^ "৮২ নং ওয়ার্ডে আজ উপনির্বাচন, ভোটের লড়াইয়ে ফিরহাদ হাকিম" [There is by-election in Ward no.82 today, Firhad Hakim in the fight for votes] (in Bengali). News 18. 6 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  25. ^ "Kolkata Mayor bypoll result: TMC Minister Firhad Hakim re-elected, defeats BJP candidate by 14,000 votes". The New Indian Express. 9 January 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  26. ^ "I spy with my little eye..." The Telegraph. 3 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  27. ^ "Narada sting operation case: Firhad Hakim appears before CBI". The Asian Age. 19 September 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  28. ^ a b "TMC minister Firhad Hakim defends 'mini-Pakistan' comment, calls it a communal conspiracy". India Today. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  29. ^ "After 'mini Pakistan' controversy, Firhad Hakim denies comments to Pak newspaper". DNA India. 30 April 2016. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
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