Firhad loses place on Tarakeswar development body

Tarakeswar: West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim has been removed as Tarakeswar Development Authority (TDA) chairman and former MP Ratna De Nag appointed in his place to stem BJP inroads in the belt.

“I was working under huge pressure. So, I decided to hand over charge,” Hakim said after the change in guard was announced.

BJP and priests in the temple town had opposed Hakim’s appointment in 2017 citing his religion. BJP leader Amit Shah had spoken on the issue during the Lok Sahba election campaign at Arambag. Though the Mamata Banerjee government had refused to roll back its decision while assuring people that TDA and the government would not interfere in the temple’s management, BJP continued to agitate and made it an election issue this year. The campaign paid dividends, with the 27,630-vote lead that Rachpal Singh rode in the 2016 assembly elections getting depleted to the 4,343 votes that Arambag Lok Sabha constituency candidate Aparupa Poddar received from the Tarakeswar assembly segment.

Civic body chairperson Swapan Samanta said a lot of work had been carried out under Hakim. “He completed beautification of Dudhpukur (Rs 2.24 crore), a parking lot with high mast light (Rs 1.5 crore) and the drainage sytem (84 lakh). Some work like beautification of another pond, Kumkumi, and auditorium are incomplete. We will discuss these projects with De Nag,” Samanta said.

Politics surrounding the temple is not new. Former PM Indira Gandhi in 1971 and poet Kazi Najrul Islam were barred from it.