Chandrima Bhattacharya and Humayun Kabir

Calcutta, March 3: Law minister Chandrima Bhattacharya today stepped in to stand by Humayun Kabir, saying the minister who lost a bypoll could be appointed for fresh six-month terms after he resigns and she was “least bothered about morality”.

“It is chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s prerogative to retain Kabir as minister for six months, regardless of the fact that he lost an Assembly election. She can even reappoint Kabir for another six months after asking him to resign on May 19 (when he will complete six months as minister without being an elected member of the Assembly),” Bhattacharya told The Telegraph tonight.

Asked if Kabir, who lost the Rejinagar bypoll on Thursday, gets defeated again, Bhattacharya said: “The chief minister can reappoint Kabir for the third time and keep doing so as long as she desires because there is no constitutional bar.”

According to Article 164 (4) of the Constitution, a person would cease to be a minister if he does not get elected within six months of his appointment.

Asked if Kabir’s continuance as minister would be morally correct, Bhattacharya said: “I am least bothered about morality. We must do whatever is sanctioned by the Constitution.”

Government sources did not confirm if the chief minister indeed was nursing such plans, prompting suggestions that the law minister’s statement is part of the posturing aimed at justifying Kabir’s continuation till May 19 or as close to the panchayat polls as possible.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said tonight that if the government reappointed Kabir for another six-month term, it would “go against the very spirit of the Indian Constitution and the basic principles of parliamentary democracy”.

Kabir, a former Adhir Chowdhury aide who switched from the Congress to Trinamul and became minister in November, finished third in the bypoll. He told reporters yesterday after a meeting with Mamata that the chief minister had asked him to continue in office.

“Didi has told me to continue in office till May 19 when I will complete six months as minister without being an elected member of the Assembly,” Kabir had said.

Earlier today, Kabir shared the dais with minister Bhattacharya and party all-India general secretary Mukul Roy at Trinamul Bhavan. Roy and Bhattacharya strongly defended Kabir, the junior animal resources development minister.

“Kabir will continue as minister as long as the chief minister desires because this is her prerogative. There won’t be any problems if the chief minister appoints Kabir for another six-month term,” Roy said, iterating what he had said yesterday.

A section of Trinamul leaders, however, said tonight that Kabir’s continuance as minister despite his poll loss “might not go down well with the people”.

“We will become a laughing stock if he continues,” a Trinamul MP said on condition of anonymity. He added that such “an immoral act” would “show us in poor light” in the run-up to the panchayat elections.

At the Trinamul headquarters in Kasba, nine Congress councillors from the the Dhulian municipality in Murshidabad joined Trinamul in the presence of Kabir, Roy and Bhattacharya.

“My sole purpose at the moment is to weaken the Congress in Murshidabad so that Adhir Chowdhury’s hegemony comes to an end,” Kabir said after today’s switch.

Trinamul has taken control of the municipality, with 10 of the 19 board members now belonging to the party.