Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who stepped down as a judge of Calcutta High Court, has joined BJP
With Lok Sabha elections months away, former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay today joined Bharatiya Janata Party.
After joining the BJP, Mr Gangopadhyay told news agency ANI, "Today's joining is nice. The way they have welcomed me is overwhelming...Everybody knows corruption is to be fought."
On Sandeshkhali, he said, "It is a very bad incident. The state leaders have gone there. They have been prevented from reaching there. Despite that, they have reached and stood beside the women there and BJP is taking up the cause of oppressed people in Sandeskhali".
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay was formally inducted into the party in presence of state party chief Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Oppostion Suvendu Adhikari and others in Kolkata.
Welcoming him in the party fold, Sukanta Majumdar said, "As a State President of BJP I welcome former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay to our party, to the family of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. I believe the way he has worked as a Justice for deprived, exploited victims of Bengal, he will carry forward that work with the leadership of the BJP."
"In the coming future, Bengal's politics will take a turn. This is the right time for the educated youth of Bengal to come forward and contribute to turning the politics of the state for good," the BJP leader said.
Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who stepped down as a Judge of the Calcutta High Court earlier in the month had announced that he would join the BJP.
There has been speculation that Mr Gangopadhyay will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bengal's Tamluk constituency on a BJP 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.
Former Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay has however not indicated anything leaving the decision of his contesting the elections to the BJP.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)