Kolkata: Former Calcutta high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who resigned from service on Tuesday, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday afternoon drawing strong reaction from Trinamool Congress chairperson and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee who questioned the credibility of the judgments he passed.

“I will be an allegiant and disciplined soldier of the party. I will need advice from senior leaders every minute. Our primary target is to send off a corrupt government and a corrupt party. I am sorry to see Bengal falling behind in every sphere. Bengal needs a BJP government,” Gangopadhyay said after accepting the party’s flag from state and central leaders.

The joining ceremony was short and Gangopadhyay did not take questions from the media, saying he had explained himself before reporters twice since Sunday when he first announced his decision to quit service.

Amid speculation that BJP may field him as a candidate in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Gangopadhyay sent his resignation directly to the President on Tuesday morning, five months before retirement. It came into effect immediately under Article 217 (1) (a) of the Constitution.

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One of the statements Gangopadhyay made on Tuesday has made him a target of the ruling party, which was at loggerheads with the judge since 2022 over several of his judgements that went against the government and his remarks on top TMC leaders including the party’s national general secretary and the chief minister’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee.

While arguing on Tuesday that personal attacks by TMC leaders prompted him to join politics, Gangopadhyay said: “I had very little time to decide. I approached BJP and BJP approached me over the last seven days. That’s why I was on leave during this period. I stopped adjudicating so that nobody can raise an allegation.”

TMC leaders have alleged that irrespective of whether Gangopadhyay was on leave or not, his admission is a proof of a sitting judge’s connection with BJP. The party is consulting legal experts.

Addressing a rally of the TMC’s women members in Kolkata on Thursday afternoon, where Abhishek was also present, Banerjee targeted Gangopadhyay, referring to him as “BJP Babu” instead of taking his name.

“He was in touch with BJP while hearing cases. BJP Babu was passing one order after another under instructions from BJP and justice was crying in a corner. People of Bengal realize very well what sort of judgements were passed by him,” Banerjee said.

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“I may not be allowed to question a judge but I can always question a judgment. ‘BJP Babu’ cancelled so many appointments. He could have told us to review the employments but instead he summarily took the jobs of so many youths while BJP raised a hue and cry,” Banerjee said, indirectly referring to the bribe-for-job scam in the education department.

In May 2022, the judge ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the appointment of non-teaching staff (Group C and D) and teaching staff by the West Bengal School Service Commission and West Bengal Board of Secondary Education between 2014 and 2021. The appointees allegedly paid bribes in the range of ₹5-15 lakh to get jobs after failing the selection tests. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which started a parallel probe into this, arrested the then education minister Partha Chatterjee in July 2022.

The judge cancelled the appointments of a few thousand teachers who were suspected to have paid bribe to get into service.

In April 2023, the judge ordered CBI to probe a suspected recruitment scam in civic bodies across Bengal. Both CBI and ED have told the Supreme Court that the two scams are related.

A host of TMC leaders, including Abhishek Banerjee, are suspects in these cases, the federal agencies have claimed in court.

Gangopadhyay ordered probes into 10 more cases in which various government departments were accused.

Dismissing Banerjee’s allegation that Gangopadhyay passed orders under instructions from BJP, the party’s former state president Dilip Ghosh said: “Had that been the case wouldn’t we put Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee behind bars before others? This is a baseness allegation. BJP does not interfere in the functioning of courts.”