Kolkata: Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar has decided to quit politics and step down from the Upper House of Parliament at a time when West Bengal is witnessing widespread protests over the gruesome rape-murder of a trainee doctor in a government-run hospital in Kolkata.
Announcing his resignation in a two-page letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sircar criticised her government for its too little too late intervention in the rape-murder at RG Kar hospital and linked the intensity of the protests to an “unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt” in the Trinamool Congress (TMC).
His statement is in stark contrast to the CM’s nearly month-long stance that the protests are politically motivated, with many party leaders also taking her line in public comments.
ThePrint has accessed a copy of the letter.
“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 has not happened and whatever punitive steps that government is taking now are too little and quite late,” reads the letter dated September 8.
“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 wrote.
Alleging rampant corruption in West Bengal, he wrote, “I became increasingly disillusioned as the state government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing strong-arm tactics of a section of leaders.”
“It is also true that leaders in other parties, and other states, have amassed much more wealth. But West Bengal is unable to accept this extravagant corruption and domination. I know that the present central regime thrives on the multi-billionaires that it has enriched, and not a day goes when I do not accuse it of dirty crony capitalism. I just cannot accept some things, like corrupt officers (or doctors) getting prime and top postings. No,” he further wrote.
“Believe me, the present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt,” he added, referring to the protests over the RG Kar incident.
Sircar, a former civil servant, has served as the CEO of Prasar Bharati and has been a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In 2021, he was officially nominated by the Trinamool Congress to the Upper House of the Parliament. Sircar had mobilised over 100 signatories, mostly former civil servants, condemning PM Modi’s move to implement the NRC-CAA in the country.
Explaining his primary purpose for becoming an MP, he wrote, “It offered an excellent forum to carry on the struggle against the autocratic and communal politics of the BJP and its Prime Minister.”
However, in 2022, the news of open corruption by the former education minister of West Bengal “shocked” Sircar, the letter said. “I made a public statement that corruption must be tackled by the party and government, but I was heckled by senior party leaders.”
“As you know. 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 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,” added Sircar.
Later, in a post on X, he attributed his decision to quit politics on the West Bengal government’s faulty handling of the protests over the RG Kar incident.
I am quitting as MP primarily because of WB government’s faulty handling of the most spontaneous public movement following the terrible rape-murder case at RG Kar Hospital.
Quitting politics— to be with the people in their struggle for justice.
My commitment to values unchanged pic.twitter.com/V98R06ziny
— Jawhar Sircar (@jawharsircar) September 8, 2024
Messages and calls to Sircar from ThePrint received no response.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh told ANI on Sunday that he could not comment on the personal decision of Jawhar Sircar but the party agreed with the spirit of his letter and the questions raised. .
“We condemn this (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…. If Jawhar Sircar takes any decision, he is a very senior and wise person, he has different principles, our top leadership will consider it,” he said.
This is an updated version of the report.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
If Ms. Mahua Moitra and Ms. Sagarika Ghose had an iota of self-respect and shame left in them, they would resign too.
‘Cut money’ (corruption) from top to bottom in Mamatha’s administration is a common knowledge. I wonder why Mr Sircar joined TMC in the first place. Nice to see the certified, intellectual, secular, liberal, honest, and anti Modi—none other than—Sagarika Ghose in the picture.
The protest resignation, on a point of principle. Worthy of the highest respect. Makes awkward the position of articulate lady MPs who are defending the administration.