Kolkata: Following his resignation as a judge of the Calcutta High Court, Abhijit Gangopadhyay confirmed on Tuesday that he is joining the BJP and was in talks with the saffron party earlier.
He also stated that the Narada case was a “conspiracy” and those seen on footages, including Trinamool Congress leaders and the TMC-turned-BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, were “victims”.
Reacting to Gangopadhyay’s decision to join the BJP and his interaction with the media, Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee alleged: “He said I approached the BJP and the BJP approached me. This is very interesting and you have to read between the lines. Hence, he confessed that he was in touch with the BJP when he delivered his judgements on various cases. I will leave the rest to the people.”
TMC leader and High Court advocate Kalyan Banerjee alleged: “Abhijit Gangopadhyay was a devil in the judiciary. He is the worst judge the court ever got. None of his judgments were ever reported. He has no knowledge of law. I challenge him to a discussion on law on any platform.” Meanwhile, answering whether the BJP had approached him, Gangopadhyay clarified to the media: “It was mutual. For the last seven days, talks were on. For all these days I was on leave and did not hear any matters in court. It was only on Monday I went to court to release the cases I was hearing. Hence, the question of how a sitting judge can indulge in such activities is meaningless.” He said: “I am joining BJP on March 7, tentatively.” Asked why he is joining BJP, he explained: “BJP is a national party which is fighting the corruption-infested Trinamool Congress.”
He added: “It is Trinamool which inspired me to join politics given their frequent demands that I should enter the political arena. I also believe that politics need honest people to break the trend of corrupt politicians.” On the issue of corruption, it was pointed out to him that Suvendu Adhikari, who is allegedly involved in the Narada case, will soon be his party colleague. Gangopadhyay said: “Narada was a conspiracy hatched by the ‘Talpatar Sepoy’ (palm leaf soldier) who is addressed by his party leaders as ‘Senapati’ (commander).
Asked if he will accept a ticket to contest from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency against Abhishek, he said: “I will accept it and defeat him by a huge vote margin.”