Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar has submitted his resignation from the Trinamool Congress party to Mamata Banerjee, citing his protest against the RG Kar rape and murder case, PTI reported.
Sircar, a former bureaucrat, joined the Rajya Sabha as a TMC MP in 2021. He previously served as Culture Secretary from November 2008 to February 2012 and later became CEO of Prasar Bharati in 2016.
In his letter, Sircar expressed that he had grown increasingly “disillusioned” with the state government, which appeared “quite unconcerned” about the corruption and “strong-arm tactics” employed by some leaders.
Describing the protests over the doctor’s death as spontaneous, the retired IAS officer noted that he had never witnessed “such angst and total no-confidence” against a government, even when the government was presenting facts or speaking the truth.
“The primary purpose of joining as an MP, without any direct involvement in party politics, was that it offered an excellent forum to carry on the struggle against the autocratic and communal politics of the BJP and its Prime Minister. To that extent, I have some satisfaction and my several interventions in parliament…,” he said in the letter.
Sircar revealed that in 2022, just a year after joining the TMC, he was “quite shocked” by the “blatant evidence of corruption” involving former education minister Partha Chatterjee.
“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,” he said.
The former bureaucrat mentioned that he was encouraged by well-wishers to continue serving as an MP in order to “carry on the fight” against “a regime that poses the greatest threat to Indian democracy and civil liberties.”
“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,” he further added.
Expressing his frustration with the government’s handling of the incident, Sircar 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 has not happened and whatever punitive steps that the government is taking now are too little and quite late.”
He also slammed the corruption and arrogance of some leaders. “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,” he said.
Regarding the RG Kar protests, he commented, “It is my belief that the mainstream of the agitation is non-political and a spontaneous one and it is not correct to take a confrontational stand, by labelling it political. Of course, the opposition parties are trying to fish in troubled waters, but the mass of the youth and the common people who are out agitating on the streets every second day do not encourage them. They want no politics: they want justice and punishment… This calls for course correction immediately or else communal forces will capture this state.”
Nearly a month after the alleged rape and murder of a 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, protests continue across West Bengal, demanding justice for the victim.
On Sunday, thousands are expected to take to the streets for various demonstrations, including a ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest. Notable figures from various fields—musicians, artists, painters, and actors—are set to join the ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest, which will begin at 11 pm. Social activist Rimjhim Sinha described the event as a way to “awaken the ruler.”
Participants will gather at different intersections, crossings, and roundabouts. Planned gatherings include a procession from GolPark to Garia along SC Mallick Road in south Kolkata, and a march from Sodepur to Shyambazar along BT Road in the north.