Abhijit Gangopadhyay says he will join BJP, hours after stepping down as Calcutta HC judge

"Maybe on 7th (March) in the afternoon. There is a tentative program, when I will join BJP," Gangopadhyay said while addressing mediapersons here today.

"The party will decide whether there will be candidates in the Lok Sabha or not. The ruling party of the state has inspired me to enter politics," Gangopadhyay said.

Earlier today, he announced that he has stepped down as a judge of the Calcutta High Court.

Gangopadhyay had already conveyed his resignation to President Droupadi Murmu and planned to meet Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam later today for a "courtesy visit".

He arrived at his chamber at the High Court in the morning, after which the resignation letter was sent.

There has been speculation that Gangopadhyay will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls from Bengal's Tamluk constituency on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket. The Tamluk seat has been a bastion of the ruling Trinamool Congress in recent elections; the party has held it since the 2009 election.

Gangopadhyay rulings on various education-related issues in the state stirred political debates.

Ganguly had expressed his desire to serve the public, stating that it was his conscience calling.

"For the last two or more years I have been dealing with some matters, especially education matters, regarding which a huge corruption has been discovered and unearthed. A large number of important persons in the education sector of this government are now languishing in jail, under trial," he said while speaking to ANI on Tuesday.

He said the reason for him quitting the job was a call of his conscience and added he would work towards the welfare of the public.

Earlier in February, the Supreme Court tagged Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee's plea to issue directions to take action against Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay for his alleged "continuous politically motivated interviews" in connection with sub-judice cases. (ANI)