'Mamata Should Have Done Something Else'

'She could have sat down with the students and taken a list of their grievances including their allegations and suspicions.'
'Not all suspicions are true, but you have to listen, you have to let the steam come out.'

After a distinguished career as a bureaucrat, three years ago Jawhar Sircar stepped into the world of politics.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appointed him her party, the Trinamool Congress' member of the Rajya Sabha.

Disenchanted with the murky world of politics, 72-year-old Sircar issued his resignation two years before his term ends.

"I made it very clear that my ideology remains the same, but I can't be with you (Mamata Banerjee and the TMC). My commitment is to certain values with which we were brought up in school, college, society in a very middle class way," Jawhar Sircar tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Payal Singh Mohanka in the second segment of an Exclusive multi-part interview:

• Part 1 of the Interview: 'Mamata Was Being Misled By The Bureaucracy'

She has called those who are deserting her traitors. Isn't that an unfair accusation for someone who has sacrificed two years in the Rajya Sabha?

The whole charge is that he is leaving a sinking ship. My question is if you know the ship is sinking, what are you doing about it?

There will be accusations. Politics is actually a legitimised form of claws, fangs and jealousies. These will happen. I am not bothered.

You say in your resignation letter, 'My commitment to fight corruption, communalism and authoritarianism in the Centre and the states is simply non-negotiable.'
Your words are a serious indictment of the TMC in Bengal.

I won't use this as a strong critique of her government alone. I did say you have not responded to this failure.

But I have also thanked her for giving me the opportunity and I have not been abusive or unkind to her.

I have taken the length and breadth of Indian politics in that letter.

I have said all political parties are like this so don't think I am singling you out so as to join some other party.

I made it very clear that my ideology remains the same, but I can't be with you.

My commitment is to certain values with which we were brought up in school, college, society in a very middle class way. So I will stick to that.

Many feel that your exit will be a loss for West Bengal's voice in Delhi.
Do you not fear that bereft of Parliament, your voice will not be heard the way it was?

Well, there will be a transmission loss, that I am sure. The forum loss so to say. Because there is no forum equal to Parliament.

But then if you observe the analyst and influencer scenario in India most of them have never been to Parliament.

And it is a growing voice.

Yes, it is a growing voice. Those who can analyse, those who can influence, those who can explain, none of them have been tainted by politics. I can easily be with them, besides them.

West Bengal is witnessing corruption like never before. The brazen impunity with which the present regime operates is very disturbing.
The TMC won resounding victories despite Narada, Saradha, cash seizures etc

This is because of the lack of alternatives. The Left has proved itself to be rather ineffective over the years. It could neither ensure a Left paradise or right industrial growth.

Bengal would find it very difficult to accept the BJP unless it came in a completely different avatar.

Not stressing on religion, not stressing on hatred.

Despite the organic and spontaneous outpouring of outrage on the streets, the TMC and the state administration too miserably failed in its handling of the situation. You've been an administrator for 35 years. How would you have handled it?

I have handled a similar case as a 26-year-old SDO in Barrackpore, where the entire college had been barricaded by students following a murder on the campus.

There were charges of wrongdoings in the college. The police had counter-barricaded it.

I am no hero, but I got the police barricade removed, walked in alone, without an escort.

There were butterflies in my stomach. It was a very aggressive mob. I took a calculated risk.

I sat with them and said 'Bolo kya bolna hai? They shouted for two hours. But eventually they communicated with me.

I managed to win the confidence of the protesters. You have to tackle situations.

Administrators who have never handled law and order are put in charge of law and order.

Here, the situation changed when Manoj Pant was brought in as chief secretary.

The previous chief secretary was a hand-picked man. I would say a large part of the wrong advice was coming from him.

The home secretary has had no record of ever having handled any big situation in her life.

Instead of just pointing to the TMC, I would put it on the administration also.

The list of things they shouldn't have done is endless. Reward a principal with a plum post despite a gruesome rape and murder case under his watch. Call the protests political.

The way I viewed it the August 14,'Reclaim the Night' was a spontaneous uprising, The vigour and the unity which I saw women displaying was something unbelievable.

There was nothing political about it. That's another point where I differed with them.

I told them not to bring in the BJP and the CPI-M in this. There may be a few persons here and there, but they are not the ones leading this.

When they said it was a conspiracy between Baam (Left) and Ram (BJP) I told them to talk sense.

Once elected to powerful positions, why do leaders credit citizens with no common sense? They expect citizens to just silently watch a very shameful cover up.

This is what we call the ageing factor in politics. Politicians reach a stage when they listen to only those who say what they want to hear.

They want yes men, not advisors. This happened to Jyoti Basu towards the last stage when he too was disconnected from reality.

This happened to Buddhadeb Bhattacharya at the time I left him.

He was the most sporting chief minister, but then after 5 years in office he was being guided by people who had never handled situations except in theory.

That's a problem. We have theoreticians who keep misguiding. It's easier to say 'Yes Sir'.

We had a visibly rattled chief minister marching on the streets and protesting! In your opinion had the CM been wrongly advised or is this her true self?

It was absolutely wrong. What she wanted to convey was that I am equally shocked.

And instead of taking these lady MPs who also woke up rather late, which is another sad fact, Mamata should have done something else.

She could have just taken them to the college and sat down that day with the students and taken a list of their grievances including their allegations and suspicions.

Not all suspicions are true, but you have to listen, you have to let the steam come out.

• Part 3 of the Interview: 'Mamata Has Learnt A Lesson'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com