Calcutta rape and murder case: West Bengal Chief Minister asks Jawhar Sircar not to resign

Kolkata rape and murder case: Trinamool Comgress MP Jawhar Sircar, who had announced his resignation from the Rajya Sabha following the Kolkata rape and murder case at RG Kar Hospital on September 8, 2024, has reportedly been asked by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to reconsider his decision.

In his resignation letter to Banerjee, Sircar expressed his intention to resign and asked the TMC chief to “save the state”. According to a report by India today, Sircar is expected to visit Delhi on September 11 to submit his resignation to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Following Sircar's announcement, Mamata Banerjee contacted him and asked him to reconsider his resignation from the Rajya Sabha.

Jawhar Sircar expects “Old Mamata Style”

Sircar had also written a letter to the Prime Minister, saying he thought Mamata Banerjee would interfere in the “old Mamata style”.

Sircar mentioned that he had hoped for a direct intervention from Banerjee to resolve the crisis, but found the government's response inadequate and delayed. He argued that normalcy could have been restored faster if the government had held those responsible for the administrative lapses to account. He also declared his intention to completely retire from politics after his resignation.

“I thought you would interfere in the ongoing movement in the old Mamata style, but I have not seen that,” he said, adding that the doctors' ongoing agitation was against the “unbridled, arrogant attitude of the chosen few and the corrupt”.

“I have been suffering patiently for a month since the horrific incident at RG Kar Hospital, hoping for your direct intervention against the agitating junior doctors, in the old Mamata Banerjee style. That has not happened and whatever punitive measures the government is taking now are too little and too late,” Jawhar Sircar wrote in his letter.

On August 9, 2024, a doctor-student was raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. Police have arrested Sanjay Roy in connection with the crime.

The response of the hospital administration and the Kolkata police was criticized. There were allegations that the hospital's former director, Dr. Sandip Ghosh, tried to cover up the murder as a suicide.

Moreover, the victim's family faced delays in viewing the body and the FIR was filed about 14 hours after the body was discovered.

TMC chairman Kunal Ghosh commented on Sircar's decision and agreed on many points in his letter to Prime Minister Banerjee.

Ghosh appreciated the decision of Jawhar Sircar and his status as the “biggest bureaucrat of West Bengal”. He also stated that Sircar's decision was a personal matter and he had the right to take it.