Accusing him of taking away jobs of thousands of youths across the state through his judgments, the chief minister said: “From the very first day, we were saying that this man sitting on the (High Court) bench does not want people getting jobs. It is now clear… Every day, he gave lectures, gave interviews to TV channels. Now, the mask has come off and the real face has been exposed. He is now a BJP babu.”
Referring to Gangopadhyay’s judgments ordering probes by central agencies into alleged irregularities in government recruitments, the chief minister said: “The youths will not forgive you. All your judgments are under question. I can’t speak about justice, but I can comment on judgments… Tomorrow your justice will be done by the people. We will ensure your defeat no matter from where you contest in the Lok Sabha polls.”
Banerjee’s remarks came on a day when Gangopadhyay formally joined the BJP and said that his primary objective is to remove the “corrupt TMC government” in the state.
The chief minister also said that as the High Court judge, Gangopadhyay “consistently attacked” her nephew and TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.
Last year, in a TV interview, Gangopadhyay as a judge of the High Court had said that Abhishek Banerjee should be jailed for three months for alleging that a section of the judiciary was hand in glove with the BJP.
On Thursday, Abhishek tweeted Gangopadhyay’s photo with BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari and wrote: “Seeing is believing! Talk about a 180-degree turn – from ordering CBI inquiries to joining BJP, especially through someone named in a CBI FIR! This glaring flip exposes the BJP’s twisted tango with a section of the judiciary, all to the detriment of Bengal’s interests.”
Meanwhile, the TMC supremo also hit out at party colleague and five-term MLA Tapas Roy, who joined the BJP on Wednesday. Referring to the ED raids at Roy’s house in connection with the alleged irregularities in recruitment in civic bodies, Mamata Banerjee said: “Only one day ED came and he got scared. The ED said to him, join BJP and we will do nothing. And he joined the BJP. I knew ED was doing that. I saw it on YouTube. One ED officer was saying, what can they do if they are instructed to do so!”
Last Sunday, when Roy announced his decision to quit TMC, the Baranagar MLA said that he felt “insulted and hurt” by the party leadership for “deserting” him when ED raided his house.
The chief minister took part in a padyatra from College Street to Dorina Crossing, around two kilometres apart, in central Kolkata on the eve of International Women’s Day. Clad in her trademark white and blue bordered cotton sari with a shawl wrapped around her neck, Banerjee was seen greeting people and onlookers on both sides of the road with folded hands. TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee was also present at the rally.