Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress nominated retired IAS officer and former Prasar Bharati CEO, Jawhar Sircar to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament.
The byelection for the West Bengal Rajya Sabha seat, vacated by Dinesh Trivedi earlier this year, is slated to be held on August 9.
“Mr Sircar spent nearly 42 years in public service and was also the former CEO of Prasar Bharati. His invaluable contribution to public service shall help us serve our country even better,” the Trinamool Congress said in a tweet.
Sircar’s nomination to the upper house is considered Mamata Banerjee’s masterstroke particularly for his fearless opposition to the Centre’s ruling party, BJP since the time he was heading the Prasar Bharati.
“I was told today that I have been nominated by the Trinamool Congress for the single Rajya Sabha seat from West Bengal. The only 2 other parties who have seats in the WB Legislative Assembly are the BJP (that had 77 seats) and the ISF (1 seat) and I don’t think they like me,” Sircar said in a Facebook post.
“As you know, I resigned as CEO of Prasar Bharati in November 2016 before my fixed term of 5 years ended — as I could not carry on with PM Modi’s Hindutva, his autocratic style of functioning and the economic mess he was creating. After that my campaign against the NDA has been sharp, relentless but analytical.
“I have accepted the nomination — as I would be able to carry on my battle against demonic suppression of human rights, communalism and Modi’s disastrous handling of administrative issues like Corona, inflation, nation’s economy and joblessness,” he added in his post. Sircar has a glorious public administration career. He was the head India’s Culture Ministry between November 2008 and February 2012, the longest term for any Secretary. He was CEO of India’s public broadcaster for 2012 to 2016.
