“I am totally against the civic body’s decision to impose water tax in the city. Instead of burdening the citizens, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) should try to collect the amount of tax that is still pending in the markets,” he said.

Admitting KMC’s inability to collect taxes from commercial establishments, Mukherjee said: “KMC is least bothered to monitor the tax collection system in the city. The performance of its officials is very poor when it comes to collecting water or property tax from the commercial set-ups.”

Mukherjee’s sudden appearance on the final day of KMC’s budget session took all councillors, including Mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, by surprise.

“I never expected him to turn up. I have never seen him in any of KMC’s monthly meetings,” said the Mayor.

Though Mukherjee and Bhattacharya were sitting close by, none of them exchanged greetings.

Mukherjee held a prolonged discussion with Trinamool Congress leaders in Leader of Opposition Javed Ahmed Khan’s room at KMC headquarters.

“Given a choice, I will always like to come back to the municipal headquarters,” said Mukherjee. But he refused to comment on any joint venture with Trinamool Congress.

“It is too early to comment on any such issue. But I am not negating the idea,” he said.