Mask is off: Mamata Banerjee on former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Ganguly's BJP switch

Addressing a public rally in downtown Kolkata, Mamata claimed her party's stand that Ganguly's judgements were biased in favour of the BJP is now vindicated.

She said, "The BJP man is announcing his decision to join BJP sitting in the judge's chair! Will people ever get justice from these people?... But I am happy that their masks are off now. He became a big leader by taking away thousands of jobs. He used to give lectures in meetings, give interviews on TV and slam Abhishek (Abhishek Banerjee, TMC national general secretary) by calling his name."

"I have seen a lot. Now the public will judge him. He should be ready. I will take students to campaigning wherever he contests from," the TMC supremo, who was leading a rally on the occasion of International Women's Day, added challenging Ganguly.

Abhijit Ganguly joins BJP

Abhijit Ganguly, whose directives helped the surfacing of the alleged teacher recruitment scam, joined the BJP in presence of state unit president Sukanta Majumdar, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, party MP Locket Chatterjee, MLA Agnimitra Paul and others.

Joining the BJP, Ganguly, who quit as the judge on Tuesday, said, "The primary purpose is to mark the beginning of the end of this corrupt ruling party and government in the state through Lok Sabha elections so that they do not return to power in 2026."

"BJP needs to be in power for the sake of Bengal. I feel pained upon seeing Bengal lagging behind consistently," he added.

Photo courtesy: Bengal BJP

Who is Justice Abhijit Ganguly?

In 2022, Justice Abhijit Ganguly ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the teacher recruitment scam in West Bengal schools.

Justice Ganguly's orders in the scam cases have created ripples in the state with multiple arrests including the one of former education minister Partha Chatterjee.

However, Justice Ganguly was criticised by the Supreme Court last year for giving an interview to a Bengali news channel on the cases, referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, revealing that he was upset with TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in one instance et al at length.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud had asked for a separate judge to hear the respective cases.

While Justice Ganguly's strict actions and directives had impressed anti-government protesters who were demanding "justice" and legitimate recruitments, a section of people had questioned his television interview citing "ethics".