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Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is waiting for the doctors to join the discussion. (Image: X/@AITCofficial)
Doctors protesting against the RG Kar rape and murder case did not skip the meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee through Live streaming
“I am ready to resign,” Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said after a standoff with a junior doctor protesting against the rape and murder of her colleague at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital last month. Banerjee’s big statement came after the Trinamool Congress showed a dramatic visual where Banerjee was seen sitting alone in a hall waiting for a junior doctor.
The standoff between Mamata Banerjee and junior doctors continued on Thursday evening after a delegation of 32 camped outside the state secretariat but refused to enter and meet the Bengal Chief Minister after authorities refused to allow live streaming of the discussion.
A visual released by the TMC shows Banerjee sitting in an empty auditorium with rows of chairs and tables arranged in a semi-circle in front of her.
Have you ever seen a @BJP4India The CM waited 1.5 hours to engage in an open dialogue with the protesters? Absolutely not. From JNU to farmers’ protests, from wrestlers’ protests to Manipur – PM @narendramodi and the BJP has consistently shown its disregard for democratic discussion and… pic.twitter.com/huTzNvbklG
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) September 12, 2024
Banerjee while holding a press conference said that she waited for 2 hours but the doctors did not appear, “If people want justice, I am ready to resign in the interest of the people. I don’t want the CM seat.
“We have waited for two hours to meet the doctor. We have written to them and said we will come and that is why we made the arrangements. We want to have an open-minded discussion. The Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police, the Minister of Home Affairs… all is here,” he added.
Explaining why the government did not allow live telecast of the discussion, the Bengal Chief Minister said, “Since the matter is sub judice, it cannot be shown live. I tried three times to talk to the junior doctors to stop the protest. I still will not take any action against the doctors annoying juniors, will forgive us because we are old.
‘Trying the best…’: Mamata Government Explains
After the doctors did not attend the meeting after the state government refused to hold a live telecast, West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said, “We have tried to make them understand. We have explained to them whether all arrangements have been made. We have made arrangements recording so that the whole process is well documented There must be trust between the two parties… We want to listen to them.
“There is no difference or opinion, no conflict. Both of us work with the same goal. So I don’t know why they feel that if there is no live streaming we will not participate in the meeting. We want to record everything and discuss properly,” he said. .
Dramatic Mail Exchange
Earlier today, the doctors were invited, for the third time, to meet the state government and negotiate an end to the strike in the presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Before this, two invitations this week were rejected by the doctor.
The first one was rejected because it was sent by Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop. In particular, the doctors asked for the resignation of the sender. The second letter was also rejected due to the state government’s refusal to do the live telecast of the meeting and the limitation of the number of people attending the discussion.
The third invitation was received by the junior doctor, where Pant emphasized that the country “is always willing to participate in a meaningful dialogue”. However, Pant also said that live streaming is not allowed.
Junior doctors have been staging a sit-in protest outside the state Health Department headquarters for several days. Meanwhile, several other senior doctors have returned to work after the order of the Supreme Court.