TMC alleges 'ulterior political motives' in junior doctors' standoff with Bengal govt

TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya urges protesting junior doctors to resume duties and do the “noble duties” of their profession.

TMC minister Chandrima Bhattacharya attributed “ulterior political motives” to the stand-off between protesting junior doctors and the state government over terms of engagement for talks. In a video posted by the party on social media platform X, Bhattacharya said the government's willingness to hold an “unconditional” discussion should not hinge on any preconditions.

Kolkata: Junior doctors during their 2nd day of sit-in-dharna over the RG Kar Hospital rape and murder incident, near Swasthya Bhawan in Kolkata, Wednesday,(PTI)

The minister alleged a “hidden political agenda” behind the doctors' delayed response to an email invite sent by the health secretary on Tuesday.

“We would like to ask the protesting doctors - Is it acceptable to send an email to the CMO at 3.45 am in the morning? Naturally not. So, there is a hidden political agenda behind all this," she said.

The protesting doctors had declined the invite claiming they felt “insulted” getting an invite from the health secretary who they are demanding to be sacked. They also objected to the invite not addressing the hundreds of female doctors protesting alongside them.

In another effort to break the impasse, the doctors expressed their willingness to talk again, following which the state chief secretary sent an email invitation.

Bhattacharya also explained that the second invite was sent around 3:23 am on Wednesday, but the doctors responded late.

“They were informed 2 and half hours in advance. They were asked to bring a delegation of preferably 12 to 15 people. They could have come for the meeting. But they sent a response to that email almost two hours later,” she alleged.

The doctors demanded a bigger delegation of at least 30 members and a discussion on their five-point demands in the presence of the chief minister. They also demanded that the meeting be telecasted for the sake of “transparency”.

Reacting to the preconditions, the minister said the government is willing to engage in an “honest, open and unconditional discussion” but “open dialogue and preconditions don't go hand in hand”. “So, they don't want dialogue,” she alleged.

The minister appealed to the protesting junior doctors to resume duties and reiterated the government's call to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. “I request the junior doctors to consider this. Don't fall for political provocations. Do the right thing. We appeal to you to discharge the duties that come with this noble profession.”