Minutes after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held a meeting on Monday with teachers who lost their jobs after a Supreme Court ruling, the Opposition BJP sharply criticised her, saying that she is “misleading” the candidates.
State BJP leadership questioned the Chief Minister on why her government could not provide the Supreme Court with a list of teachers who were “genuine” and those who were “tainted”.
On April 3, the SC nullified over 25,000 school jobs in West Bengal, while upholding a Calcutta High Court Order on an alleged school jobs scam case which is being probed by the CBI. The apex court termed the 2016 School Service Commission (SSC) recruitment process as “vitiated and tainted by fraud”.
While BJP MLAs protested near the state Assembly, the BJP Yuva Morcha Thursday carried out a Kalighat Abhiyan on the issue from the Exide crossing to the Hazra crossing, near the Chief Minister’s residence in Kalighat. Police said that some leaders and workers were arrested.
“The Chief Minister is misleading the teachers and non-teaching staff who have lost their jobs. Why isn’t Banerjee giving the list of genuine candidates to the Supreme Court? Everyone knows how Trinamool Congress leaders are involved in the school jobs scam. It is the Trinamool Congress and the CM who are responsible for the job loss of thousands of teachers,” said Suvendu Adhikari, BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition, speaking to mediapersons near the state Assembly.
“She is asking all the teachers to continue to work ‘voluntarily’. Is this not a violation of the SC order? The SC should take cognizance of this. The Chief Minister said that she is holding a meeting with genuine teachers. Then, she knows who they are. Now, why is the list not given to SC?” said Sukanta Majumder, BJP state president, speaking at a press conference.
“The School Service Commission and Mamata Banerjee are responsible for all this. The SCC was not allowed to work independently,” Majumder said.
Meanwhile, Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, BJP MP from Purulia, wrote a letter to the Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, against Banerjee’s statements after the SC order.
“The reaction of… Banerjee, under whose regime this scam was orchestrated, has been nothing short of alarming. Instead of upholding the verdict of the apex court, the Chief Minister chose to criticise the judiciary in a press conference held at the state secretariat, flanked by senior IAS officers. The visuals of this address, where the judiciary and even the Supreme Court’s intent were questioned, have shaken public confidence in constitutional governance,” the letter read.
“The situation worsened on April 7, when Mamata Banerjee, along with Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and Education Minister Bratya Basu, presided over a government-organised meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata. The event, under the guise of expressing solidarity with the impacted candidates, turned into a platform to openly denounce the Supreme Court and attack Your Lordship personally,” it read.