‘Neta behaving like judge’: Bratya barb at Ganguly protests
Times of India | 9 April 2025
12 Kolkata: Former judge Abhijit Ganguly, now a BJP MP, on Tuesday went to School Service Commission offices in Salt Lake to protest. This is a body against whom he delivered orders in the past, drawing barbs from state education minister Bratya Basu and Trinamool Congress.
Basu told reporters: "When Ganguly was a judge, he behaved like a politician in a courtroom. Now that he is a bona fide politician, he is behaving like a judge, sermonising. He loves theatre. As a student of acting myself, I say that if he loves acting, a true actor should understand which role belongs to whom and should know what is designated for whom."
Ganguly on Tuesday demanded that SSC initiate the process of segregating the ineligible from eligible school staff, rendered jobless after a Supreme Court order, by scrutinising OMR sheets. Claiming that the task could easily be carried out by the commission, Ganguly also said that CM Mamata Banerjee should take immediate steps to form a committee that would help find a mechanism to save the jobs of "eligible teachers".
Accompanied by a group of around 20 "eligible teachers", the Tamluk MP went to the SSC office to meet its chairman Siddhartha Majumder, but he was not present. "If SSC is unable to check OMRs, which must be with them, we will presume they are under pressure (not to do it). But they have to do this," he said. Ganguly said he would come to the SSC office again on April 9 and meet the chairman to press for the demand.
"I am asking CM Mamata Banerjee to constitute a committee at the earliest to find out a mechanism so that eligible teachers can return to service. Even now, eligible and tainted candidates can be segregated," Ganguly said. "Why can't SSC bring out the OMR sheets, mirror image of which can be retrieved for each candidate? Is there anything to hide?" he added.
This is the second time in four days that the former judge has made the suggestion to the CM. On April 4, he urged Banerjee to form a panel comprising the advocate general and lawyers to find out a mechanism so that a deserving teacher can return to service.
Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh later attacked Ganguly's "facade" and said it was the BJP MP's "attempt to gain publicity". He asked why Ganguly, during his tenure as a judge, made observations from the bench but didn't try to resolve the issues. Ghosh questioned whether he kept the problem unresolved to later use them as a political tool after joining BJP.
"Was it because he planned to join BJP later and wanted to misuse Calcutta High Court chair to create complications?" he asked. Ghosh further challenged Ganguly, stating that if he truly had a solution, he should call a press conference and reveal it publicly, or write to the CM or the education minister with the formula.