TMC MP Jawhar Sircar on Sunday wrote to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, his party chief, and said he has decided to quit Rajya Sabha and quit politics altogether, describing the steps taken by the state government to handle the rape and murder of the doctor at RG Kar hospital as “too little and too late”.
In the letter, Sircar said he was increasingly “disillusioned” with the state government, which seemed “rather unconcerned” about corruption and “strong-arm tactics” by a section of leaders.
The retired IAS officer called the protests over the doctor’s death spontaneous and said he had never seen “so much anguish and lack of trust” against a government even when it said things that were correct or factual.
“The main objective of my joining as an MP, without any direct involvement in party politics, was that it provided an excellent forum to carry forward the fight against the autocratic and communal politics of the BJP and its chief minister. In that regard, I am satisfied with my various interventions in Parliament…” he said in the letter.
Sircar said that in 2022, a year after joining the TMC, he was “quite shocked” to see the “open evidence of corruption” that former education minister Partha Chatterjee had been involved in.
“I made a public statement saying that the party and the government should fight corruption, but I was booed by party leaders. I did not resign at that time because I expected you to continue your public campaign against ‘cuts’ and corruption that you had started a year earlier,” he said.
The former bureaucrat said his supporters persuaded him to stay on as an MP to “continue the battle” against “a regime that is the biggest threat to India’s democracy and civil liberties.”
“While I carried out my duties in Parliament with fervour, I became increasingly disillusioned as the state government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing heavy-handed tactics of a section of leaders,” he said.
Highlighting their middle-class lifestyle, Sircar said he was surprised to see several TMC panchayat and municipal elected representatives acquiring large properties and driving around in expensive vehicles.
“This hurts not only me but the people of West Bengal,” he said.
“It is also true that leaders of other parties and other states have amassed much more wealth, but West Bengal cannot accept this extravagant corruption and domination. I know that the current central regime thrives on the billionaires it has enriched, and not a day goes by without me accusing it of dirty crony capitalism. I simply cannot accept some things, like corrupt officials (or doctors) holding important and senior positions. No,” he added.
Referring to the protests over the rape and murder of the doctor, he said the “spontaneous outpouring of public anger” is against this unbridled authoritarian attitude of the “few favoured and the corrupt”.
“In all my years, I have never seen such angst and such a lack of trust in government, even when it says something correct or factual,” he said.
Sircar said he had “suffered patiently” for a month since the incident at RG Kar hospital, waiting for direct intervention with the agitating young doctors, “in the old Mamata Banerjee style”.
“It has not happened and the punitive measures the government is taking now are too little and too late. I believe normality could have been restored in this state much earlier, if the group of corrupt doctors had been dismantled and those guilty of taking improper administrative measures had been punished immediately after the scandalous incident took place,” he said.
Sircar said the agitation was non-political and spontaneous and it was not right to take a “confrontational stance by calling it political”.
“They don’t want politics, they want justice and punishment. Let us look at it frankly and understand that the movement is both in favour of Abhaya (name given to the victim) and against the state government and the party. This demands an immediate course correction or else communal forces will take over this state,” he said.
Sircar said he wrote the letter because he had not had a chance to speak privately with Banerjee for months.
“I would like to once again express my gratitude for the opportunity given to me to raise Bengal’s issues in Parliament for three years, but I do not wish to continue as an MP. My commitment to fight corruption, communalism and authoritarianism at the Centre and the states is simply non-negotiable,” he said.
He said he would soon visit Delhi and offer his resignation to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, thereby disassociating himself from politics.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said the party respects Sircar’s decision and was hopeful that the leadership would address the issues raised and take strong, clear and positive action.
“We are also aware of the other issues Sircar has recently highlighted and understand that as a person of integrity and deep emotions, he is entitled to respond as he sees fit,” Ghosh said.
The BJP said it would not be prudent to comment before Sircar tenders his resignation to the Rajya Sabha chairman.
“This is not the first time this has happened. He had earlier also expressed his desire to resign from the party and give up his status as an MLA. He later retracted his statement. Let us see what happens now. But if he really does so, the people of Bengal will be happy that he at least had the courage to stand up against the corrupt regime,” said BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya.
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