Abhijit Gangopadhyay announces he’s joining BJP after resigning as Calcutta HC judge

Abhijit Gangopadhyay announced on Tuesday that he is joining the BJP, hours after he resigned as a judge of the Calcutta High Court.

“I am joining the BJP as it is a national party, which is fighting against the corruption of the TMC in Bengal,” said Abhijit Gangopadhyay while addressing a press conference.

He would join the BJP on March 7.

“Maybe on 7th (March) in the afternoon. There is a tentative program, when I will join BJP,” Gangopadhyay said.

“The party will decide whether there will be candidates in the Lok Sabha or not. The ruling party of the state has inspired me to enter politics,” he said.

Gangopadhyay sent his resignation letter to President Droupadi Murmu with copies to CJI DY Chandrachud and the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC TS Sivagnanam on Tuesday morning.

There has been speculation that Gangopadhyay will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bengal's Tamluk constituency on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. 

The Tamluk seat has been a bastion of the ruling Trinamool Congress in recent elections; the party has held it since the 2009 election.

Earlier, Gangopadhyay, whose rulings on various education-related issues in the state stirred political debates, said he would address all inquiries related to his resignation after submitting the letter.

In February, the Supreme Court tagged Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee's plea to issue directions to take action against Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his alleged "continuous politically motivated interviews" in connection with sub-judice cases.

“For the last two or more years I have been dealing with some matters, especially education matters, regarding which a huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed. A large number of important persons in the education sector of this government are now languishing in jail, under trial,” he told ANI on Tuesday.

He said the reason for him quitting the job was a call of his conscience and added he would work towards the welfare of the public. 

(With inputs from agencies)