Bengal minister Firhad Hakim is new Kolkata mayor

West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim was on Thursday declared as the next mayor of Kolkata, four days after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) registered a comprehensive victory in the city's mayoral polls, winning 134 out of 144 wards of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC).

The decision was taken at a Trinamool meeting chaired by party supremo and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. Leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC's national general secretary, were among those who attended the meeting.

Hakim, the state transport minister and a key aide of the chief minister, was considered by many as the front-runner for the office, of which he has been a previous incumbent.

The minister's previous term, which began in late 2018, ended in May last year. Since then, he was heading the board of administrators, which was in-charge of running the civic body.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections took place on December 19, while the counting of votes took place on December 21. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the state's principal opposition party, won three wards, while the Congress and the Left were victorious on two each.

Three independents, who won their respective wards, are likely to join the Trinamool Congress in the coming days.