Kartick Chandra Paul, the BJP MP of Raiganj, was appointed as the chairman of Kaliaganj municipality in North Dinajpur district by the BJP government of the state.

This is the first time the state government has made such a decision.

On Tuesday evening, the state urban development and municipal affairs department issued a notification, stating that Paul, who is also a councillor from ward 8 of Kaliaganj town, will serve as the civic chairman until the new chairman is elected.

“The decision was made as the functioning of the civic body got affected because of consecutive resignations of the chairman and the vice-chairman,” said a source.

Like most other civic bodies of the state, the Trinamool Congress was in power in the Kaliaganj municipality. Even now, Trinamool has 10 councillors at the civic body and the BJP seven.

After the change of guard in the state, the municipality reportedly faced various administrative challenges. Then chairman Biswajit Kundu and his deputy Jaya Barman Debsharma submitted their resignations from their posts without specifying a reason. Trinamool did not name their successors, leaving the civic body rudderless.

Kundu and Barman Debsharma remained councillors.

“Recently, Trinamool has begun preparations to elect a new chairman based on its numerical strength. However, the state government's latest decision has, at least temporarily, shifted administrative control of the municipality into the BJP's hands despite the Trinamool's majority in the civic body,” said an observer.

Kanaialal Agarwala, the district Trinamool president of North Dinajpur, said that earlier he had asked Kundu not to resign. “We will discuss with Trinamool councillors to select a new chairman and vice-chairman. Taking advantage of the provisions of the municipal rules, the state has temporarily handed over the responsibility to a BJP councillor. However, this arrangement is only temporary as we still have a majority,” he said.

Paul, when contacted, said he will visit the civic body on Friday. “I will speak about my new responsibility and the functioning of the civic body on that day,” he said.