Referred to as ‘Bobby da’ by his inner circle, Firhad Hakim is among the most prominent faces in the Trinamool Congress and also one of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s most reliable lieutenants.
He was elected councilor in Kolkata Municipal Corporation in the late ‘90s, but got his real break in 2009, when he was elected MLA from Alipore constituency in the bypolls that year. Two years later, as Mamata Banerjee came to power, he won as MLA from Port constituency and was soon appointed the state’s Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister.
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In the last 10 years, while many ministers had their departments changed, Hakim has held the same Cabinet portfolio.
After TMC leader Sovan Chatterjee resigned as Kolkata Mayor following allegations of negligence in 2018, Hakim became the first Muslim since Independence to be elected to the post. Since Mukul Roy’s departure from the TMC in 2019, Hakim has become one of the most dependable lieutenants of CM Banerjee. A large section of party cadres, especially from districts such as Birbhum and Murshidabad, depend on ‘Bobby da’ to register their complaints and suggestions with Didi.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rides pillion on an electric scooter during a rally against rising fuel prices in the country. She sat behind Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim (Express Photo: Partha Paul)
In 2016, Hakim’s name cropped up in the Narada sting operation, where he was accused of allegedly taking bribes. During the investigation by the CBI, he was questioned for several hours about the case. Hakim had then said that the sting operation was a “political conspiracy”. The same year, days before the Assembly elections, he found himself at the centre of another controversy, following an interview with Pakistani publication Dawn where he allegedly called his constituency “mini-Pakistan”. Hakim dismissed the report and said he was misquoted.
More recently, Hakim’s son-in-law Yasser Haidar quit the TMC after being denied a ticket to contest for the ruling party in the upcoming state assembly elections. The minister has not spoken on the matter yet.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More
