TMC MP Jawhar Sircar Quits Over WB Govt's Handling Of Kolkata Protests

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Jawhar Sircar on Sunday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister and party chief Mamata Banerjee, offering his resignation from the Rajya Sabha.

His decision comes in the wake of the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, which has sparked nationwide outrage.

In his letter to West Bengal CM, Sircar expressed deep disappointment over the government's handling of the situation and urged Mamata Banerjee to take decisive action to "save the state."

"While thanking you sincerely for giving me such a great opportunity to represent the problems of West Bengal as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, I must inform you that I have decided to resign from parliament and also from politics altogether," he said.

"I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at RG Kar Hospital, and was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee," it read.

The TMC MP further said, "It has not happened, and whatever punitive steps that the government is taking now are too little and quite late. I think normalcy may have been restored in this state much earlier if the caucus of the corrupt doctors was smashed and those guilty of taking improper administrative actions punished immediately after the scandalous incident happened."

Sircar, who joined TMC in 2021, also highlighted his disillusionment with the state government's response to corruption, particularly regarding the former education minister's involvement in corruption.

Sircar stated that he had made a public statement urging the party and government to address the issue of corruption, but he was met with heckling from senior party leaders.

"But, in 2022, a year after I joined, I was quite shocked to see on TV and print the open evidence of corruption that the former education minister had indulged in. I made A public statement that corruption must be tackled by the party and government, but I was heckled by senior leaders in the party. I did not resign then, as I had hoped that you would carry on your public campaign against 'cut money' and corruption that you had started a year earlier. Besides, everyone knows that there is no party anywhere that does not have a corrupt section. I was also persuaded by well-wishers to remain as MP in order to carry on the battle against a regime that is the greatest ever threat to Indian democracy and civil liberties," Sircar said in his letter.

"Though I carried on my task in parliament with fervour, I became increasingly disillusioned as the state government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing strong-arm tactics of a section of leaders. As you know. I was the only prominent officer who was not given any plot in Salt Lake or anywhere by the previous regime--for speaking out too critically. I have grown up in a middle-class family in Kolkata and in my youth, I have travelled in suffocating public transport, hanging on to the footboards of buses. So, after 41 years in the IAS, I can live without embarrassment in a small middle-class flat next to a big slum and drive a very ordinary 9-year-old car. But I get amazed to see that several were elected," he said.

"I shall go to Delhi soon and offer my resignation to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha and will also disassociate myself totally from politics. Please do something to save the state, and my regards and best wishes are with you," he added.

Reacting to Sircar's decision, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said, "If someone should give the resignation, it should be West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. TMC government and Mamata Banerjee institutionalised corruption, and in his letter, he wrote that whenever he raised the issue of corruption, he was silenced. Mamata Banerjee tried to destroy the evidence and save the accused."

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh also reacted to the same and said, "At present, we are working like soldiers under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee but this does not mean that I criticize the personal principle of Jawhar Sircar, it is not so, it is his decision, he can take it."

"We condemn this (RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder) incident, people are angry about this incident, and they misunderstand the administration. In such a situation, as a soldier of the party, we have to try to explain to the people, we will follow the role of our soldier. If Jawhar Sircar takes any decision, he is a very senior and wise person, he has different principles, our top leadership will consider it. We cannot say anything about this," he stated.
The TMC government in West Bengal has been under intense criticism following the trainee doctor's tragic death, which led to widespread protests and a subsequent CBI investigation into both the murder and financial irregularities at the hospital.

The incident led to the arrest of a Kolkata Police civic volunteer and triggered widespread demonstrations by doctors and citizens alike, demanding justice and accountability.

The Calcutta high court subsequently directed the CBI to investigate both the murder and the financial irregularities at the institution. (ANI)