On March 3, in an unprecedented move, the former Calcutta High Court judge Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay resigned from his office and joined the BJP, raising questions of propriety and judicial independence. In an interview to The Indian Express, the former judge says he is “not yet a politician” but only a “simple political worker “of the BJP and that what appealed to him are the party’s development and nationalism planks. Excerpts: There is a buzz you may contest the election against TMC leader (and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew) Abhishek Banerjee. I cannot recognise any such politician of West Bengal. I talk about the politicians of West Bengal but the name you uttered… I cannot recognise any such politician in West Bengal. But you referred to the 'bhaipo (the nephew)' even in court… I have said many things in court and I cannot remember everything. But today I cannot recall any such person who is in politics. About my contesting elections, that depends entirely on the higher-ups in BJP. I am doing some party work as I am directed and I am meeting some people from the party and getting introduced to them for the first time. They will decide from where I will contest and if I will contest at all. Mine is not a conditional joining. I have joined voluntarily, out of my own will and there is no condition that I have to be a candidate for a seat etc, or that I have to be given an office. I am working as a simple and general worker and not more than that. You said that the TMC motivated you to join politics and yet you do not recognise Banerjee? Some of the spokespersons insulted me when I was acting as a judge and tried to do justice against corrupt activities by the political party in power in the state. Then they started accusing, attacking me and said a lot of things and I took a cue from that. They also said you come to the political field… their spokesperson. Are you referring to Kunal Ghosh’s statement that you contest an election against Banerjee? Again, I have not heard of anybody by this name in politics. Bengal has a rich cultural as well as political heritage. Some miscreants… underworld persons might be by this name, but I cannot recall a politician by this name. I can only recall old and new politicians. Give us a sense of when and why you joined the BJP? Who approached you? I joined the BJP because it is a national party which is also active in West Bengal, and it is the only party which can change the political scenario in Bengal which, in the last 10-15 years has been very bad. It is the only party that can change the situation of Bengal. There is a job crisis today in Bengal… from manual labour to IT sector folks, young people are migrating out of here, leaving behind their aged parents. It is because they aren’t getting jobs here even when they are skilled or educated. The people are unhappy… the happiness index in Bengal today is negative. That is why people must vote for the BJP, which will bring in development, and people can ultimately vote the ruling party out of power in 2026. For that, the situation has to be created now. What other aspects about Bengal worry you? Social issues… Socially we are going back 100 years. This is due to unnecessary fights and animosity created by the political party in power. Everybody is feeling unsafe and insecure. People need guarantee that they will remain safe in their homes, their daughters will not be raped, their sons will not be murdered or be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In Bengal, we do not have many industries. We have to energise our peasants and create jobs. As a politician now… your focus is development? I’m in politics, but I’m so new that if anybody calls me a politician, I will not accept it… I’m still learning the different currents and rules of politics, and understanding the workflow and the political scenario in the state and also the country. It is a very complicated thing to understand. Not a politician, but I would describe myself as a general political worker of the Bhartiya Janata Party. When judges jump into politics, there is a shadow cast on the independence of the judiciary. Please don’t use the word jumping… I have crawled into politics. I don’t think it causes a shadow. How can it? Because a person can join politics only after leaving the judiciary. After joining politics, we can have no influence over the judiciary. There has been criticism from within the judiciary about your joining politics. My former colleagues are absolutely silent because it is not their business to comment on my personal choice. One might argue that you built a public profile while you were in office… with the TV interview and your observations in court against a politician… Not at all. Some political party is spreading that, but I did some work which was liked by the general people of West Bengal and that is why they accepted me as a judge and even came to my court on my last day. But I was not influenced by any such thing while in office… It is wholly incorrect and untrue. Joining politics came to my mind seven days before my resignation and when I started thinking about that, I stopped sitting in court. Now that you have joined the BJP, there are certain ideological planks of the party that you may have dealt with in your judicial career… CAA, NRC debate… I’m still formulating my views on these issues. I’m reading material given to me by my party and also from other sources. It will take some time, say six months or so for me to reply to all these questions. What about the party’s ideology and structure, you must have considered that before joining? Yes, those are simple things that are understandable from the outside. This is a party that wants to develop India as a great power…the nationalism aspect is what appealed to me. What about constitutional issues such as secularism, basic structure? There is no challenge to secularism from the BJP as far as I understand it. These are only brought up by some people who are against the BJP… mainly the Left parties… I do not count the Congress as a force. India has a huge, huge number of Muslims. They are safe. They’re working and they taking part in every activity of the state. Secularism is, I emphasise, wholly integrated. There was unnecessary appeasement instead of governing. A large number of Indians, be it Hindu or Muslim, have not been properly governed. The BJP has started governance, which is why it is accused incorrectly. If somebody thinks we will stay in India but follow the rules of an Islamic country, that will naturally not be allowed by the country. What are these rules you refer to? 'That I’ll do anything in the name of religion'. Most of the Muslims feel Indian, but a small percentage, say 5-7%, think that they are first Muslim and then Indian. So they abide by the rules of the Muslim world. Can you give an example of these rules you refer to? I understand your question but I cannot give examples. If you follow their lifestyle, you will see. Does your formulation apply to other religions? Would one call oneself an Indian first and a Hindu later? That is not a very important question. Religion in India is mixed with spirituality, whether it is Hindu, Muslim or Christian. So nobody can say whether he is Hindu first or Indian first. But that is what you ask of Muslims? Because no Hindu in India thinks that he has come from (an) outside country. They are born and brought up in their own country. Most of the Muslims think they are Indian. They are born and brought up here and India is their own country. Only a small percentage think otherwise, but that is also a sizeable number.
