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Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who resigned as judge of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday, announced that he will “formally” join the BJP. Gangopadhyay, who had given several orders in the alleged West Bengal school jobs scam, said he is joining politics to fight against the “corruption” of ruling Trinamool Congress in the state.
Just a few hours after submitting his resignation as judge of the Calcutta High Court to President Droupadi Murmu, Gangopadhyay said, “I will join BJP…most probably on March 7.”
“It is the only national party which is fighting against Trinamool Congress’s corruption,” the former judge replied to the media on why he has decided to join the saffron party.
The BJP leadership will decide whether he will contest the coming Lok Sabha polls or not, Gangopadhyay said.
Resignation
On last Sunday, the former High Court judge announced his decision to resign as judge and hinted at taking a plunge into politics. Since then speculation was rife that he might join BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
“I have been forced to take this step due to taunts and statements by the ruling party. A judge cannot be personally attacked. That is exactly what they had been doing. The ruling party insulted me many times. They had been constantly abusing me since many of their corrupt activities were getting revealed every day. Their taunts and statements inspired me to take this step,” said Gangopadhyay, who was up for retirement later this year.
Politically motivated
A High Court judge since 2018, Gangopadhyay has become a household name in Bengal because of his multiple orders in the alleged West Bengal school jobs scam. He has passed several orders directing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the alleged scams. Job aspirants, who have been protesting against the state government, have hailed the intervention of him. The Trinamool Congress leadership has often targeted him and described his interventions as “politically motivated”.
The former judge has also sparked rows by allegedly ignoring a few orders of larger benches.
Notably, on Monday Trinamool Congress MP and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee pleaded with the Kolkata High Court that “all political orders” passed by Gangopadhyay in connection with the alleged school jobs scam should be struck down.
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