Firhad Hakim, popularly known as Bobby Hakim, is one of the most important ministers in the outgoing Mamata Banerjee government. He is urban development and municipal affairs minister. He also occupies a very important position in the TMC and is said to be close to Mamata Banerjee. Mr Hakim retained his Kolkata Port Assembly seat, defeating Left-backed Congress candidate Rakesh Singh by over 26,000 votes. He spoke to Soumitra Nandi about the party’s triumph:
Your comments on this massive Trinamul Congress victory. Were you expecting such a big win?
This is a victory of truth over canards and slander. The people of Bengal have given a fresh mandate to Ms Banerjee because they are happy with the work her government has done in its first term. Yes, we were confident the TMC would cross the 200-seat figure. I am thankful to the people of West Bengal for having showered their blessings on us.
How difficult was this election considering the Opposition Left Front and Congress joined hands to defeat your party?
The Left-Congress tieup was an unholy alliance. Thousands of Congress workers were killed by the CPI(M) and now the two parties very conveniently ganged up only to grab power by defeating us. They did not realise Ms Banerjee is a people’s leader and people do not desert their Didi.
But CPI(M) state secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra claimed the people would vote them to power...
Surjya Babu thought his party would survive in West Bengal by joining hands with the Congress. But by now he must have realised that a person cannot walk with the support of someone else’s walking stick. The people of Bengal have driven the last nail in the CPI(M)’s coffin.
