Sovan Chatterjee


Sovan Chatterjee is an Indian politician belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is the former Mayor of the city of Kolkata, the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Chatterjee had been a Kolkata Municipal Corporation councillor since 1985.
He resigned from the mayor post on 22 November 2018.

Political career

Chatterjee had been a councillor in the KMC since 1985. From 2000 to 2005, he was also a mayor in council of the corporation. Chatterjee won the Behala Purba seat in the 2011 West Bengal Assembly election, which he retained in 2016.

Mayor of Kolkata

In 2010, he was appointed as the mayor of Kolkata by his party All India Trinamool Congress, with Farzana Alam being appointed as his deputy. On getting elevated to the post, Chatterjee said that he will try to restore the old glory of the city.

Cabinet Minister

Chatterjee was made a cabinet minister in 2016. Former mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya said that there was no provision in law that prevents a mayor from holding ministerial berth. With the decline in supply of cattle, India's first fully automated slaughterhouse was shut in May 2017. Chatterjee reacted by saying that he would examine the matter.
In December 2016, Chatterjee became the first mayor of any city of India to get Z-plus security cover. In that category, he would get security cover by National Security Guard commandos.
In November 2014, Chatterjee was announced as the mayoral candidate of his party for the civic polls which were to be held in 2015. He was reappointed as the mayor of the city in May, as his party won the polls.
In 22 November 2018 he resigned from the mayor post of Kolkata Municipal Corporation. He later joined BJP on 14 August 2019.

Views

Bhangar Power Grid

Chatterjee supports the restoration work of building the Bhangar Power Grid, which was stopped due to protests of villagers over acquisition of land. He said that outsiders with vested interests were hindering development.

Water crisis

In May 2017, there were reports of water crisis in South Kolkata. Areas affected included Garden Reach, Wattgunj, Khidderpore. Left Front councillors boycotted a monthly meeting of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to protest against the body's inability to solve the issue. About the complaints, Chatterjee said that the opposition were making a "mountain out of a mole hill".