Many civic chairpersons across Bengal are urgently transferring their trade licences in favour of close relatives in the run-up to municipal elections as the government has barred those with business interests from helming civic bodies.

“The West Bengal Municipal (Amendment) Act, 2019, was passed in the Assembly in July last year, soon after the Lok Sabha polls, but it had largely gone unnoticed until recently,” a minister said.

“As elections to 93 civic bodies are likely to be held in April, the provision has gained relevance within the party (the Trinamul Congress). Many chairpersons are trying to distance themselves from their businesses as they want to seek re-election,” the minister added.

According to the amendment, all civic chairpersons will have to be whole-time functionaries of their offices and during their stint they cannot be associated with any business or other profession.

Trinamul sources said the leadership was not worried about civic chairpersons who were employees of the government or other related agencies as they would be able to seek lien. However, those running businesses were a cause of concern.

The move to introduce the amendment is being seen as a step towards reviving the image of the ruling party after hundreds of complaints were lodged against Trinamul chairpersons and councillors for demanding “cut money” from beneficiaries of government schemes in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha elections.

“The party also received complaints that many civic chairpersons and councillors were trading in sand, cement, fish and kerosene oil or were dabbling in real estate. The party has taken the complaints seriously and decided to bar councillors from getting elected as the chairpersons of civic bodies,” a source said.

Many have attributed Trinamul’s reversal of fortune in the parliamentary polls, in which the BJP won an unprecedented 18 seats in Bengal, to people’s anger at elected representatives. The purported “clean-up” drive has become paramount before the 2021 Assembly polls, the sources said.

Trinamul insiders said that according to ballpark calculations, about 80 per cent of the chairpersons and councillors of the 93 civic bodies possessed trade licences.

“The party has given them a chance to distance themselves from their trades as the majority of them are influential in their respective areas. It is expected that most of the councillors will disassociate themselves from their businesses, eyeing the top post in the civic bodies,” the minister said.

The Opposition parties termed the initiative an eyewash.

“Most Trinamul chairpersons and councillors run various trades and they use their position to earn money illegally. If they transfer the trade licences in favour of their relatives, they will still be able to milk their position to make money,” said Asok Bhattacharya, the mayor of the CPM-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation.

Trinamul leaders admitted that it would be tough to deny tickets to councillors with trade licences considering their popularity.

“The party will give them a chance to disassociate themselves from their trades,” another minister said.