2 contenders for Kolkata mayor

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When asked who would be the new mayor of Kolkata, Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said that the party would decide later. “We will give you a worker (for the mayor’s post), not a leader because a worker performs better,” she added.

After her party’s landslide victory in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), speculation was rife in the political circles about the identity of the new mayor. According to Trinamul Congress sources, till the results were announced, three persons — Javed Khan, Sovan Chatterjee and Firhad Hakim — were the front runners for the post.
Mr Khan who was the leader of Opposition in the outgoing KMC board, however, is no more in the race simply because he suffered a surprising defeat in ward number 64 by a thin margin of 71 votes. Now only Mr Hakim and Mr Chatterjee are in the field.
Mr Chatterjee is five-time councillor from ward number 131 in Behala. In a survey conducted by a private Bengali channel, he emerged as the majority’s choice for the mayor’s post. Mr Chatterjee, has over the years, become a close confidant of Ms Banerjee. His chances of becoming the First Citizen are therefore very bright.
Firhad Hakim, popularly known as Bobby Hakim, is a councillor and a borough chairperson. In 2009, he also won the Alipore Assembly bypoll to become an MLA.