Days after the ruling Trinamool Congress’ defeat in the Sagardighi Assembly bypoll, West Bengal Urban Development Minister and Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim has been removed from the post of chairman of the Furfura Sharif Development Board, sources in the state government said. Tapan Dasgupta, the party’s Hooghly district chief and Saptagram MLA, will replace him. Hakim called Dasgupta and urged him to take up the new responsibility, the sources said.
Furfura Sharif in Hooghly district is the second most prominent Sufi shrine in the country after Ajmer Sharif in Rajasthan.
“I have been given the responsibility to ensure the overall development of Furfura Sharif. Firhad Hakim worked hard for the development of this holy place. Now, I will take it forward. If there are matters that require urgent attention, then we will not hesitate to work on them. Under the guidance of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, we will work for better development of this place,” Dasgupta said.
The decision to make changes in the Furfura Sharif Board comes in the wake of two events — the arrest of Naushad Siddiqui, the lone MLA of Indian Secular (ISF), a party floated by Furfura cleric Abbas Siddiqui; and the TMC’s defeat in Sagardighi Assembly in Murshidabad district. Congress won Sagardighi with the backing of the CPI(M).
TMC sources admitted they were worried about the minority vote having shifted to the Congress-CPI(M) alliance because almost 63% of Sagardighi population is Muslim. Tribals constitute another 10%-plus of the votes.
Source said that TMC chief and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee met five minority leaders of her party — Mass Education and Library Minister Siddiqulla Chowdhury, Minister of State for Irrigation Sabina Yasmin, Minister of State for Power Akhruzzaman, Minister of State for Minorities Ghulam Rabbani and Fire Safety Minister Javed Khan — on Monday after the Cabinet meeting “to introspect and ascertain the reasons” for the TMC candidate’s defeat.
TMC MLAs, belonging to the minority candidate, also attended the meeting, sources said, adding that Mamata Banerjee expressed concern about losing minority votes to the Opposition and sought a detailed report on the bypoll defeat.
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In the run-up to the 2021 Assembly election, two factions had emerged in the Furfura Sharif Pirzada’s family.
While one faction led by Toha Siddiqui remained close to the ruling TMC, his elder brother’s son, Abbas Siddiqui, also a pirzada, floated a new outfit — Indian Secular Front (ISF) — to oppose both the TMC and the BJP, and tied up with the CPI(M)-Congress alliance.
The ISF managed to win one seat in the Assembly election.
Last month, police arrested ISF MLA Naushad Siddiqui and more than 50 other ISF workers in Kolkata during a protest against the attack on its workers. After 42 days in custody, Siddiqui was recently granted bail by the Calcutta High Court. After his release, Naushad Siddiqui said, “The fight will go on against this government.”
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In the wake of Naushad’s arrest, pirzadas, in a joint statement, had criticised the TMC government.
A minority leader in the TMC said, “More than one month of custody [of Naushad Siddiqui] affected the TMC’s Sagardighi bypoll prospects. Minority votes split and helped the Congress candidate to win the byelection. After the bypoll result, we see that pirzadas are maintaining a distance from the TMC. It is tough for Firhad Hakim to tackle this situation. Probably, that is the reason Hakim has been replaced by Tapan Dasgupta, who is a local leader. Now, let’s see how much he can minimise the anger of Furfura Sharif.”
Tapan Dasgupta said on Tuesday, “At present, Muslim clerics are busy with their festival. After that, I will go there and will talk to the people of Furfura.”
On Wednesday, Dasgupta visited Furfura Sharif and met Toha Siddiqui, who, it has been learnt, has welcomed the change in the Furfura Sharif Development Board.
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The TMC government have been making attempts to reach out to Furfura Sharif. The state government recently announced a special pilgrimage bus service to Furfura Sharif. State Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty, who is also a member of the Furfura Sharif Development Board, said the buses will ply from Sunday to Thursday for a safe and comfortable pilgrimage. In February, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a 100-bed hospital for Furfura Sharif and laid the foundation stone for the same.
“Firhad Hakim has so many responsibilities to shoulder. Besides, it gets often difficult to discharge his duties from Kolkata. Therefore, a change has been brought in. Dasgupta is an MLA from the same district and knows the area very well,” said another TMC leader.
