The Trinamool Congress has been facing an unprecedented setback at most of the 128 civic bodies that the party runs since the new BJP government clarified that those local bodies' past activities would be scrutinised and accordingly, action would be taken.
Trinamool councillors at many municipalities resigned, and a large number of functionaries stopped going to their offices, leading to a crisis in the delivery of civic amenities.
"We are observing that chairpersons are not going to their offices and councillors are resigning. So, we have started appointing administrators there. The monsoon will arrive within a few days, and we cannot sit waiting for those chairpersons and councillors. If they agree, it is well and good, as we will work together. Otherwise, we will have to take proper steps," said urban development and municipal affairs (UDMA ) minister Agnimitra Paul.
The minister held a meeting with officials on Friday to address issues related to the drainage system. Her department has been working to resolve the problems before June 8 to minimise waterlogging. While top officials were physically present at the meeting, functionaries of the urban bodies across the state were connected virtually.
Paul will visit the ground to take stock of the situation ahead of the monsoon.
The majority of councillors have resigned at Halisahar and Bhatpara in North 24-Parganas. In Halisahar, 16 of 23 councillors resigned on Thursday.
On Friday, 30 of the 35 councillors at the Bhatpara municipality, including chairman Reba Saha, submitted their resignations, creating a situation that might require the appointment of administrators.
The new government has already appointed administrators in Durgapur and Howrah. Administrators have also been appointed at seven other municipalities. A source said several more administrators would be appointed shortly in municipalities where the majority of councillors had either resigned or were not functioning properly.
A source said that after the defeat in the Assembly elections, no Trinamool leaders, including those at the district level, had communicated with civic bodies regarding their functioning.
Although Trinamool chairperson Mamata Banerjee met the councillors of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation on Friday, the party has held no such session for other civic bodies in Bengal.
"The situation has completely changed and the party has no clear message regarding the functioning of civic bodies. So, many councillors have lost morale after Trinamool's defeat in the Assembly polls. Many who were involved in corruption are afraid of facing probes initiated by the BJP government," a source said.
The vice-chairman of the Bhatpara municipality, Debajyoti Ghosh, who resigned, told reporters that there was corruption and "the party had no control over the functioning of the civic bodies".
Minister Paul also highlighted the level of corruption and unauthorised appointments that allegedly took place in civic bodies during the Trinamool regime. .
"Those councillors and chairpersons did not go to the office and work. They used to receive money while sitting at home because of the rampant corruption. A road that was built six months ago has been rebuilt. Accountability for such huge corruption will be ensured and action will be taken. Our chief minister has already said that an audit will take place," said the minister.
"Where there was a requirement to recruit merely 10 people, they appointed 40 people on their own, and many of them have nothing to do," she added.
However, representatives of many civic bodies said there was no issue in running the regular work, as the new government and the UDMA department had been cooperating well.
"No communication has come from Trinamool. However, we have no problem running our municipality. Recently, we received grants from the UDMA department for regular works," said Soumen Bhakat, the chairman of the Rampurhat municipality.