A war of words has erupted between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP in West Bengal after former Calcutta High Court judge and BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay on Friday proposed that a committee be set up to look into the fallout of the Supreme Court upholding the cancellation of more than 25,000 teaching and non-teaching jobs in the state.
“Didi (Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) should constitute a committee…I believe that, even today, eligible and ineligible candidates can be segregated. I am not blaming anyone today,” Gangopadhyay said, adding that the committee should include the education minister, the advocate general, and Gangopadhyay himself.
The original petitioners in the case, the School Service Commissioner chairman and their legal advisor can also be members of the panel, Gangopadhyay added. “This committee can sit and try to segregate the eligible and ineligible candidates from the list, and in such a way, this disaster can be avoided,” he said.
The BJP MP’s proposal came after a Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar upheld a Calcutta High Court verdict annulling the appointment of 25,753 teachers and non-teaching staff and ordered the TMC government in the state to initiate a fresh selection process. “We have the highest regard for the judiciary, but… I cannot accept this judgment,” Banerjee said.
The TMC reacted sharply to Gangopadhyay’s proposal. “He is doing politics. One day before, he demanded the resignation of the chief minister. The state government will take action within the legal framework. What the Supreme Court has said, (a) solution is there,” TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said.
Education Minister Bratya Basu also reassured the eligible candidates. “Eligible and deprived candidates should have confidence because the government will take steps on their behalf with humanity,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP state president and Union minister Sukanta Majumder proposed that eligible candidates who lost their jobs should be compensated from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. “TMC leaders who took money from the candidates…their assets should be confiscated and distributed among the deprived candidates,” Majumder added.
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TMC spokesperson Jayprakash Majumder said that the people were aware that the CPI(M) and the BJP were to blame for the current situation. “Now, people are eager to know what Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will say to the candidates on Monday at the meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium.”
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