TMC MP Jawhar Sircar quits, calls Mamata's handling of RG Kar stir 'faulty'

Jawhar Sircar attributed the ongoing public anger in West Bengal to the unchecked power of certain individuals in the Trinamool Congress party

Trinamool Congress (TMC) Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar has announced his decision to step down from politics and resign from the Upper House of Parliament. His resignation comes at a time when West Bengal is gripped by widespread protests over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata.

In a strongly worded two-page resignation letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sircar expressed his dissatisfaction with the government’s delayed response to the incident. He attributed the intensity of the protests to the “unchecked overbearing attitude of the favored few and the corrupt” within the TMC.

 

This sharp criticism stands in stark contrast to Banerjee’s month-long assertion that the protests were politically motivated, a view echoed by several TMC leaders in public comments.

“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 the government is taking now are too little and quite late,” Sircar wrote in his letter dated September 8.

‘Disillusioned by the state government’
 

The former civil servant, who once headed Prasar Bharati, emphasised that immediate action could have quelled the unrest if the government had cracked down on corrupt doctors and administrative officials implicated in the incident. “I think normalcy may have been restored in this state much earlier if the caucus of the corrupt doctors was smashed,” he said.

Sircar did not hold back from highlighting what he perceived as rampant corruption within the state government. “I became increasingly disillusioned as the state government seemed quite unconcerned about corruption and the increasing strong-arm tactics of a section of leaders,” he wrote.

While acknowledging that corruption exists across political parties and states, Sircar stated that the people of West Bengal could not tolerate such “extravagant corruption and domination”.

“I just cannot accept some things, like corrupt officers [or doctors] getting prime and top postings,” he added.

Public anger over unchecked power of individuals
 

Jawhar Sircar attributed the ongoing public anger in West Bengal to the unchecked power of certain individuals in the party. “The present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt,” he noted, referring to the protests that have erupted following the RG Kar incident.

Sircar, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, joined the Rajya Sabha in 2021 after being nominated by the TMC. He played an active role in mobilising over 100 former civil servants to condemn the central government’s implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Reflecting on his reasons for entering politics, Sircar wrote, “It offered an excellent forum to carry on the struggle against the autocratic and communal politics of the BJP and its Prime Minister.”

Disillusionment over corruption scandal

However, his disillusionment grew after the corruption scandal involving a former West Bengal education minister in 2022. “I made a public statement that corruption must be tackled by the party and government, but I was heckled by senior party leaders,” he said.

In his resignation letter, Sircar also voiced his discomfort with the growing wealth of some political leaders in West Bengal. “I am 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 wrote.

In a subsequent post on X (formerly Twitter), Sircar linked his decision to quit politics to the West Bengal government’s mishandling 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

Party response to Sircar’s resignation, BJP reacts
 

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh, responding to Sircar’s resignation, told news agency ANI that while he could not comment on Sircar’s personal decision, the party acknowledged the issues raised in his letter. 

“We condemn this [hospital rape-murder] incident; people are angry, and they misunderstand the administration. If Jawhar Sircar takes any decision, he is a very senior and wise person, and our top leadership will consider it,” Ghosh said.

The BJP, on the other hand, reiterated its demand for Mamata Banerjee’s resignation after Sircar’s letter became public.

“Sircar has done the right thing as a person with a conscience. People within TMC are now raising their voice, sending a message that Mamata Banerjee should step down,” said Samik Bhattacharya, Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury commended Sircar’s decision, stating, “It is commendable that someone from within the ruling party has voiced concern for the people of Bengal. However, I do not believe it will have any impact.”