Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday, 7 June abruptly cancelled a crucial meeting with her party's councillors in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), opting instead to fly to New Delhi to attend an opposition INDIA bloc meeting scheduled for Monday. The cancellation notice was dispatched to councillors who had been asked to assemble at the party's state headquarters, Trinamool Bhavan, on the eastern outskirts of Kolkata. No official reason for the cancellation was provided.

Why the KMC Meeting Mattered

The scrapped gathering was considered significant given the deepening crisis within the Trinamool Congress-controlled KMC board. The immediate trigger was the resignation of Firhad Hakim, the former West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister and ex-Mayor of the KMC. His departure has set off a chain of exits, with a Member of the Mayor-in-Council and at least two borough chairmen also stepping down.

The cumulative resignations have raised serious questions about the board's legal right to continue functioning, placing the Trinamool-controlled corporation in an increasingly precarious position.

State Government Moves to Dissolve KMC Board

Acting swiftly, the new West Bengal state government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari served a notice to the KMC authorities on Saturday evening, asking them to clarify why the current Trinamool-controlled board should not be dissolved. The government has invoked Section 117(1) of the KMC Act, 1980, which empowers the state to dissolve the corporation, arguing that the board's legitimacy is untenable following the mayor's resignation.

The notice comes amid ongoing legal arguments between KMC Chairperson Mala Roy and the state's Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Department over the continuation of the board — a dispute that has added a judicial dimension to an already volatile political standoff.

Arrests of Trinamool Councillors Add to the Crisis

The corporation's troubles extend beyond resignations. According to reports, since the West Bengal Assembly election results were declared on 4 May, police have arrested a total of eight Trinamool Congress councillors in the KMC on charges including corruption, extortion, and alleged inappropriate behaviour towards women — further eroding the party's hold on the civic body.

Delhi Trip and INDIA Bloc Dynamics

Banerjee's pivot to New Delhi underscores the competing pressures she faces — managing an unravelling municipal situation in Kolkata while maintaining her national profile within the opposition alliance. Her nephew and Trinamool Congress General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee had already departed for New Delhi on Saturday, ahead of the Monday meeting.

With the KMC board facing a potential dissolution notice and a string of arrests, Banerjee's return from Delhi and her next moves on the KMC crisis will be closely watched.