DAYA News Bureau, 5 September 2022: The current Mayor of Durgapur Municipal Corporation, Anindita Mukherjee has been appointed as the administrator of the newly constituted administrative board. This newly formed five member board will take charge from tomorrow. The four others in the board are Deputy Mayor Amitabh Banerjee and three other mayor councils, Dharmendra Yadav, Rakhi Tiwari and Dipankar Laha. Meanwhile, the opposition parties have opposed this decision.
The tenure of the elected Durgapur Municipal Corporation (DMC) is going to end today. Now until the elections are held, it will likely be operated via this administrative board. The present Durgapur Municipal Corporation came into power via a violence marred election held on 13th August 2017. All the 43 wards under DMC have TMC councilors. Election for the next DMC board was supposed to have taken place in July or August this year, but state government went the other way and has decided to appoint administrator to the run the corporation; a notification has been issued by the state government today.
Anindita Mukherjee took charge as Durgapur’s first woman mayor on 24th December 2021, after her predecessor Dilip Agasty resigned citing ill health. Sources said Mamata Banerjee picked Mukherjee, the wife of veteran Trinamool leader in West Burdwan and former Durgapur mayor Apurba Mukherjee, because of her “clean and honest” image and her acceptability among rival factions and councillors.
Now that the Durgapur Municipal Corporation tenure ends tonight, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a rather unprecedented move has wrested her faith on Anindita Mukherjee, by not appointing an administrative personnel for the post. With Durgapuja, Diwali and other festivities round the corner, there is perhaps little chance that election for Durgapur Municipal Corporation will take place before next year January. Anindita Mukherjee in her short tenure has already shown determination to make the industrial city of Durgapur clean and green besides promoting art and culture; now with an extended tenure as an administrator, it is to be seen how she manages to keep the flow going.