Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar resigns over R.G. Kar rape-murder protest

The development marks the first major resignation from the TMC which has been facing the heat of protest for almost a month after the horrific crime at the State-run hospital

Updated - September 08, 2024 05:55 pm IST - Kolkata

Jawhar Sircar also stated that he had decided to step down from politics.

Jawhar Sircar also stated that he had decided to step down from politics. | Photo Credit: ANI

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar on Sunday (September 8, 2024) wrote to Trinamool Congress chairperson and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee announcing his decision to resign as MP from the Upper House over the rape and murder of a post-graduate trainee doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital and related corruption at the hospital.

The development marks the first major resignation from the Trinamool Congress which has been facing the heat of protest for almost a month after the horrific crime at the State-run hospital.

Also Read: West Bengal passes Aparajita Women and Child Bill for stringent punishment in cases of sexual assault

“I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at R.G. Kar Hospital and was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee. It has not happened and the ever punitive steps that government is taking now are too little and quite late,” the MP said in the letter.

Mr. Sircar who is also a retired IAS officer said that in the all the years, “I have not seen such angst and total-no-confidence against the government, even when it says something correct or factual” and added that “the present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt”.

The former Prasar Bharati CEO who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha three years ago said that the “mainstream of the agitation is non-political and a spontaneous one and it is not correct to take a confrontational stand.”

“They want no politics: they want justice and punishment. Let us analyse frankly and realise that the movement is as much for Abhaya as it is against the state government and the party. This calls for course correction immediately or else communal forces will capture this state,” Mr. Sircar said.

Also Read: TMC trying to hide entire incident: BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar on Kolkata rape-murder case

In his two page communication to the Trinamool Congress chairperson, he said that he had “became increasingly disillusioned as the State Government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing strong-arm tactics of a section of leaders”.

While pointing out that he stays in a small middle class flat, next to a big slum and drives a very ordinary nine year old car Mr. Sircar said that he is amazed to see that several elected panchayat and municipal leaders have acquired big properties and move around in expensive vehicles.

“This hurts not only me, but the people of West Bengal,” he said.

Mr. Sircar who had over decades of experience in bureaucracy was nominated to Rajya Sabha in August 2021. Referring to the arrest of former Education Minister Partha Chatterjee who was arrested after hordes of cash was seized from the residence of his associate, Mr. Sircar said that after he made a public statement that corruption must be tackled by the party and government, he was “heckled by senior leaders in the party”.

Mr. Sircar added that he shall go to Delhi soon and offer his resignation to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha and will also disassociate himself totally from politics.

Not only Mr. Sircar but another Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy had come out after protesting against the incident. Mr. Roy had to delete a post directed at Kolkata Police after he was served notice by the police and he approached Calcutta High Court.

The protests over the rape and murder have come out as the biggest challenge for the Trinamool Congress government, and not only doctors and activists but common people have hit the streets demanding justice for the victim and increased security for women.

People who care for Bengal unwilling to support Mamata: Sukanta Majumdar

Reacting to the resignation of Mr. Sircar, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said that this is a clear indication that people who care for Bengal are not willing to support the failed leadership of Mamata Banerjee.

“The people of West Bengal have lost faith in a Chief Minister who is pushing the State’s future into darkness. The Maa-Mati-Manush of Bengal are helpless under this misrule. The people demand to know, when will you resign, Honorable Chief Minister?,” Mr. Majumdar said on social media.

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