Senior Trinamul Congress MP Saugata Roy on Tuesday advised Jawhar Sircar to quit the party and the Rajya Sabha if the latter was so embarrassed by the alleged graft in the organisation.
On Monday, the retired IAS officer had told ABP Ananda: “The people in my family immediately said I should quit. Friends have been mocking me, asking me how much I received to still be here. Such ignominy I have never had to tolerate.”
The 70-year-old intellectual whom Mamata Banerjee had sent to the Rajya Sabha in August last year had made the remarks in the wake of the arrests of the party’s two senior leaders — Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mondal — in corruption-related cases.
Dum Dum MP Roy said on Tuesday that Sircar should stop taking himself so seriously, and giving his own opinions more credit than due. Roy also urged the leadership to initiate immediate disciplinary action against Sircar.
“If he is indeed so very embarrassed by certain things, why is he still here? Should he not immediately resign from the Rajya Sabha? He is free to leave the party, too. These people do not make any impact,” said the 75-year-old veteran parliamentarian.
“He had no role in any of Trinamul’s struggles or victories, not even in the Assembly election last year,” added Roy. “Our party does not need or have any place for selfish and opportunistic people…. Is he the only one to have a public standing? What about the rest of us?”
Contacted by this newspaper, Sircar declined comments on Roy’s remarks, but broached many other subjects in a text message.
“No comments on his (Roy’s) statement. But I felt equal focus could have been given by the media to my statement that ALL parties pick up funds for elections and to run their organisation — but to misuse it for buying flats cannot be condoned,” Sircar wrote.
“I focused on the threat of 2024. I’m sure that Mamata Banerjee will take remedial steps to improve the image of the party,” he added.
Sircar has said Opposition parties must realise that they were or are on old-style cash support for politics, which he calls “Retail Corruption”.
