Kolkata mayor may attend dist admin meet

KOLKATA: City mayor Sovan Chatterjee, also the South 24 Parganas district president of Trinamool Congress, is likely to attend chief minister Mamata Banerjee's district administrative meeting in Joka on Monday.
Chatterjee's role as the party's district chief was questioned after TMC chose to ignore him while forming a panel on March 15 to screen prospective panchayat poll nominees from the district.

Chatterjee who has been battling personal problems, according to sources, has indicated he is willing to take on his detractors head-on. "Due to several reasons, including ill health, he has been infrequent at party meetings earlier. However, this was being interpreted by his detractors as a growing distance between him and the party leadership. However, the party leadership, including the chief minister, has repeatedly asked him to continue in his present roles. He has been asked to attend the administrative meeting, which he will attend," claimed a source close to him.

The CM's administrative meeting comes at a time when she herself isn't very happy with the party infighting in the district. In fact, the CM had indicated Basanti and Bhangor as "black spots" and had asked the party's warring leadership to bury their hatchet or face action.

A party leader said, "Chatterjee's credentials as a party leader or a minister was never questioned. The problem arised when he started to stay away from key party meetings."