West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again asserted that she will not keep quiet. Following the Supreme Court judgement canceling the appointment of around 25,000 teachers and non-teaching staff appointed in 2016 through the state School Service Commission (WBSSC), she promised to stand with them. "Even if you send me to jail, I will not keep quiet," she declared at a meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Monday.
Mamata's declaration has again raised a storm of unease in the state politics. She categorically stated that this verdict is not acceptable to the state government. In her view, this retrenchment is a part of a bigger conspiracy in the education department. She questioned, "Who gave you this certificate that teachers of classes nine, ten, eleven, twelve are incompetent?"
At the same time, state BJP leadership has again attacked the Trinamool government on this front. Opposition state assembly leader Shuvendu Adhikari asked the chief minister to resign, claiming, "He and his nephew have taken bribes of Rs 700 crore. Mamata Banerjee should go to jail."
In this 2016 recruitment, nearly 23 lakh candidates had applied for 25,000 vacancies. But later, it was alleged that there was corruption involved in the recruitment - several people got jobs for money, keeping out deserving candidates. The Calcutta High Court cancelled the recruitment, directed a CBI probe and also directed the return of the salary drawn.
The Supreme Court last week upheld that decision. Still, the court stated that they will not force those who already received their pay to return it.
Overall, this new storm in state politics is now no longer a battle in court alone, but a political and social war as well.
