Mayor and urban development minister Firhad Hakim was seen with fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose and deputy mayor Atin Ghosh on the last day of campaign for the bypoll in Calcutta Municipal Corporation’s Ward 82.

The election will be held on Sunday.

The Trinamul councillors have selected Hakim as their leader making him the mayor. But he has to win the election to be a councillor, which is mandatory according to the Calcutta municipal corporation act, which was amended in the winter session of the Assembly.

Hakim, along with his party colleagues, was seen in a jeep in the Chetla area throughout the day, seeking votes.

“I am familiar with all the lanes and bylanes of Chetla where I grew up playing marbles. My emotions are connected to this place as this is where my root lies. People come to me every morning with various problems and I try to resolve them. I know that the people of Chetla have their confidence in me and will definitely vote for me in the bypoll,” Hakim said on the sidelines of his campaign on Friday morning.

The BJP has fielded its south Calcutta district president, Jiban Sen, against Hakim.

“Hakim will not get votes as the disenchantment with the Trinamul regime is growing across the state,” Sen said.

“I am a party soldier and am fighting hard to give Hakim a tough contest in the bypoll. There are several civic issues, apart from the ruling party’s extortion in the area. I hope people will vote against Trinamul.”

The Left Front has pitted the CPI’s Sisir Dutta against Hakim. Ward 82 was once represented by CPI leader and former deputy mayor Mani Sanyal. The Congress has fielded Animesh Bhattacharya, a Calcutta High Court advocate.

The bypoll was necessitated by Trinamul councillor Pranab Biswas’s resignation on health grounds.