Former Calcutta HC Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay to join BJP, TMC says "our allegations about him were true"

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], March 5 (ANI): Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who stepped down as a judge of the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday announced that he would join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Reacting to the announcement, the Trinamool Congress said that Gangopadhyay's decision to join the BJP is a testament to their allegations of him making "politically motivated" decisions while holding the position.
"Abhijeet Ganguly's decision proves that all the allegations that TMC was making for so many days were true. Sitting on the chair for so long, he was making politically motivated decisions. Today in the press conference, he openly said that before resigning, he had contacted the BJP or the BJP had contacted him, which means that talks were going on. It is not right that a judge was doing this while on the chair," TMC leader Kunal Ghosh said.
Earlier in the day, Abhijit Gangopadhyay said that it is up to the Central Election Committee of the BJP to decide whether he will be given a ticket to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"I can't say anything about that. It will be decided by the election committee of the BJP," he said.
When asked about the date of when he will join the BJP, Gangopadhyay said, "Maybe on March 7 in the afternoon. There is a tentative program."
Welcoming the announcement made by the former judge, West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, "It will strengthen our party. We will be forming a government in the state soon. So, we can use his capabilities in government."
Gangopadhyay had already conveyed his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and planned to meet Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam later today for a "courtesy visit".
He arrived at his chamber at the High Court in the morning, after which the resignation letter was sent.
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.
Gangopadhyay rulings on various education-related issues in the state stirred political debates. He had expressed his desire to serve the public, stating that it was his conscience calling.
"For the last two or more years, I have been dealing with some matters, especially education matters, regarding which huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed. A large number of important people in the education sector of this government are now languishing in jail, under trial," he said while speaking to 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.
Earlier 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. (ANI)