'Not setting a bad precedent', says ex-judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay after joining BJP: Report
Gangopadhyay, who was formally inducted into the BJP on Thursday, March 7, said that he will work as a party soldier and their objective is to oust "corrupt TMC" regime from the state
The former Calcutta high court judge, Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who was in the spotlight in Bengal for his run-ins with other judges and the ruling TMC party, has now officially joined the BJP on March 7.
Earlier, on Tuesday, March 5, he had resigned as the high court judge, and announced to the media that he is all set to join the saffron party. This announcement by Gangopadhyay had created an uproar in political circles. During his judicial career, Gangopadhyay's rulings on various education-related issues in the state had stirred political debates and he was also once pulled up by the Supreme Court for giving a TV interview about a case.
No impropriety
In an interview to a TV channel, he dismissed any “impropriety” over a sitting high court judge resigning and joining a political party. Further, he told NDTV that he was prompted to switch careers because of "insulting remarks from Trinamool persons". According to the former controversial judge, he was just trying to "discover corruption" in education appointments - school teachers and employees in different schools - in the state and deliver justice.
When he was a judge, he had issued several directives instructing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to probe allegations of irregularities in the recruitment processes of teaching and non-teaching staff in West Bengal government-sponsored and -aided schools.
Gangopadhyay alleged in his interview that the insulting remarks were personal attacks and not against his judgements. "These Trinamool people are almost half-educated... do not know what to say to a judge, but they challenged me," the former judge told the channel.
They had challenged him to enter politics and this made him think that "the time has come to stand beside large number of helpless people of our state"."
A few days ago, he had told the media that he was resigning as a judge to follow a "call of his conscience". The media also questioned him if he was setting a bad precedent by resigning his post as a judge to immediately join a political party, especially after his rulings were against the ruling TMC party. But the judge dismissed these allegations and blamed this kind of talk on Trinamool persons. He brushed them off as "worthless, meaningless questions".
Oust TMC
PTI reported that after Gangopadhyay's formal induction into the BJP, the ex-judge said, "Today, I have joined a new field. I am happy to join the BJP and will work as a party soldier. Our objective is to oust the corrupt TMC regime from the state.
He was given a grand welcome at the BJP office in Salt Lake, as state party president Sukanta Majumdar handed him the party flag.
"West Bengal's politics needs a person like Abhijit Gangopadhyay," said BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who is also the leader of the Opposition in the assembly.