'Mamata Banerjee must be subjected to ... ': BJP after TMC MP offers to resign over Kolkata rape-murder case

NEW DELHI: Just as TMC's Jawhar Sircar offered to resign from his constitutional post as Rajya Sabha MP over the Kolkata rape-murder and related corruption, the BJP seized on the opening to attack the Mamata government and double down on their demand for the West Bengal chief minister to step down for the alleged mishandling of the case.
Soon after Sircar’s communication to the chief minister announcing his decision to resign from Rajya Sabha as well as to quit politics surfaced, BJP's central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya asked chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Kolkata police commissioner to follow suit by stepping down.
BJP's Amit Malviya took to X and responded to the TMC MP's resignation, saying, "The obnoxious foul mouthed TMC Rajya Sabha MP quits, citing rampant corruption in the TMC run West Bengal Govt and mishandling of the rape and murder case at the RG Kar Medical College & Hospital.
Malviya then went to call for the public release of the chief minister's and the commissioner's call records from the 72-hour period following the discovery of the junior doctor's body.
"Mamata Banerjee and Vineet Goyal must be subjected to a polygraph test, to unearth the truth. The movement for justice will continue," his message read.
The BJP which has demanded the resignation of the chief minister ever since the RG Kar incident came to light, yet again pressed for the same. "Time for Mamata Banerjee to take cue and step down," Amit Malviya said.
"How can Mamata Banerjee continue? Should she not resign?" BJP's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also called for Mamata Banerjee's resignation and said that Sircar's letter indicates that every institution in West Bengal has been “corroded with corruption” by the Mamata Banerjee government. “The letter by Jawhar Sircar, TMC MP, exposes dirt, corruption and dictatorial attitude within the TMC. TMC means 'too much corruption,” he said
"Instead of resigning she protects CP Kolkata , Sandip Ghose & others ! Why?" he asked.
BJP's state president also joined in and demanded the resignation of chief minister Mamata Banerjee. "When Jawhar Sircar came into politics, he came to know that Mamata Banerjee has become the queen of corruption... so after seeing all this, he felt that he should leave the post. Mamata Banerjee should resign from her post."

'I was heckled by senior leaders in the party for my stand on corruption'
Earlier in the day, TMC MP Sircar wrote to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and informed that he intends to resign as he was unable to deal with corruption that has contributed to the mass outrage over the Kolkata rape-murder case.
In his letter, he said: "I have suffered patiently for a month since the terrible incident at RG Kar Hospital, & was hoping for your direct intervention with the agitating junior doctors, in the old style of Mamata Banerjee.It has not happened & whatever punitive steps that the government is taking now are too little & quite late. I think normalcy may have been restored in this state much earlier if the caucus of the corrupt doctors was smashed & those guilty of taking improper administrative actions punished immediately after the scandalous incident happened."
Jawhar Sircar, who became a member of the TMC in 2021 also cited his discontent over the case of corruption involving former WB education minister Partha Chatterjee as a reason for his resignation.
"But, in 2022, a year after I joined, I was quite shocked to see on TV and print the open evidence of corruption that the former education minister had indulged in. 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."
“Believe me, the present spontaneous outpouring of public anger is against this unchecked overbearing attitude of the favoured few and the corrupt. In all my years I have not seen such angst and total no-confidence against the government, even when it says something correct or factual,” he added.
The event however marks the first major resignation from the TMC which has been facing protests for a month after the brutal rape-murder at the state-run hospital. Meanwhile, the BJP has spearheaded and continues a movement against Mamata Banerjee to protest the government's handling of the case and the law and order in the state.