Jauhar Sircar on Monday claimed that the “crisis” erupting in West Bengal following the rape and murder of a resident doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kalu Medical College and Hospital was one of the reasons behind his decision to resign from the Indian National Congress and the Rajya Sabha.
He said the “transfer” of Sandip Ghosh, former director of RG Khar Hospital, was a “reward” for igniting a “people’s movement”. Sharing his disappointment over the ongoing problems in Bengal, he felt that his concerns within the party were often ignored and resigned in the hope of getting noticed.
A medical intern was found raped and murdered inside Kolkata’s RG Kall Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Police have arrested a man, Sanjay Roy, for the crime.
However, the role of the hospital administration and Kolkata Police in the aftermath of the murder came under scrutiny for questionable decisions.
“I have already said this in my statement. There are many reasons, one of them is the crisis Bengal is facing. The crisis has to be dealt with properly but that is not being done. One of the reasons for my resignation is that I am unfit for politics. The best way to gain attention was the way I did it. If I do not take such steps and make demands, nobody will listen in the party,” Jauhar Sircar told news agency ANI.
The 72-year-old bureaucrat-turned-politician announced his intention to resign from the Rajya Sabha (upper house) in a letter to Mamata Banerjee.
Jauhar Sircar also criticised the state government for its handling of the complaint against Sandip Ghosh, who had allegedly tried to make the murder look like a suicide.
“If they had addressed the complaints against the principal from day one and suspended him, the school’s power would have been half-diminished. It was a treat to bring the principals together in one place, and that’s how the movement started. It was a bad way to handle things,” Sircar said in an interview.
Sarkar acknowledged that the party continues to frame the situation as a political fight, which is not entirely wrong, but he said he is not worried about a fight between the party and the CPI(M) or the BJP.
What he is worried about is dealing with the People’s Movement which he believes to be genuine, he said, adding that treating the People’s Movement as a conspiracy against the party is not the right attitude.
Sircar’s decision comes in the wake of the recent rape and murder of a medical intern in Kolkata, which sparked outrage across the country.
With ANI input
