Teacher recruitment scam: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee must resign, she will go to jail, says BJP
Times of India | 4 April 2025
NEW DELHI: The BJP on Friday demanded that West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee resign in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's verdict upholding the Calcutta High Court's ruling that nullified the appointments of around 26,000 educators and non-teaching personnel in the state.
Union minister and West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar prognosticated that Banerjee would become the second chief minister, following Haryana's O P Chautala, to face imprisonment regarding teacher recruitment irregularities, whilst BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra emphasised that should the BJP ascend to power in the state, the complete weight of judicial proceedings would be brought against her.
Sambit Patra said, "Mamata Banerjee has no right to stay in power now. If she is left with an iota of sense of responsibility, she should quit. She will definitely go to jail."
Around 20,000 out of 26,000 recruits were legitimately selected, whilst others gained positions through alleged misconduct by TMC leadership, according to Majumdar's observations.
He advocated for the rightfully selected employees, now dismissed alongside others, to receive compensation through either the ruling party's funds or the chief minister's relief fund, considering their families face uncertain circumstances.
The court's verdict has severely damaged Banerjee's standing and authority, according to Patra.
He suggested that Banerjee's statement about rejecting the judgement on humanitarian grounds should warrant Supreme Court contempt proceedings.
Referencing Thursday's Supreme Court's critical observations of the state government, he pointed out that INDIA bloc members would have claimed democratic principles were violated if even a lower court had made similar remarks about Modi's administration.
Majumdar stated that the entire state Cabinet deserved imprisonment for protecting corrupt individuals whilst abandoning legitimate candidates.
He mentioned that the Calcutta High Court had advised the state government to identify improperly recruited candidates.
The state administration's refusal to consider this suggestion led to all successful candidates' dismissal, he explained, suggesting that legal options should still be explored to protect genuine candidates' interests.
The Supreme Court on Thursday criticised the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) for deliberately concealing irregularities in appointing 25,753 teachers and staff in government-run and aided schools.
These stern observations were delivered by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar's bench in their ruling that invalidated these 25,753 appointments.