Purba Medinipur: On a day the Election Commission issued him show-cause notice for his derogatory remarks against the West Bengal Chief Minister, BJP candidate and former high court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay struck a defiant note, saying that he would neither retract or apologise for his comment made at an election rally.
“The Trinamool Congress (TMC) would sell school posts for 8-10 lakh rupees, so I asked the Chief Minister what is the rate now? I will not take back my words; I will continue to question her,” said Gangopadhyay to ThePrint.
On Tuesday, the poll body censured and barred the BJP candidate from campaigning for 24 hours. The former judge is contesting from a seat which has remained with the TMC since the 2009 Lok Sabha election — though it was won by Suvendu Adhikari in 2009 and 2014.
As Gangopadhyay’s cavalcade sandwiched between central force security entered Moyna, a part of his Lok Sabha constituency of Tamluk, people thronged the white SUV to get a closer look at their candidate, once a judge of the Calcutta High Court who ordered the Kolkata Police to bring then TMC minister Partha Chatterjee to the CBI office for interrogation within two hours of signing the order in 2022.
The then high court judge had become an overnight sensation for his stern orders against the West Bengal government machinery and Trinamool leaders in the West Bengal teachers’ recruitment scam.
“After my resignation from the judiciary, some stupid TMC leaders raised questions on my integrity. The TMC appealed 20-25 times against my orders in the Supreme Court as well as other benches of the High Court. I challenge them to show any line in their appeal that Justice Gangopadhyay is politically biased towards the BJP. They have not been able to show anything,” he told ThePrint.
In the roadshow back in Moyna, he rode pillion on a motorcycle before joining the Leader of Opposition (LoP) Suvendu Adhikari on stage in a small field outside a temple to address the rally goers.
“He is like God, he sent two corrupt ministers to jail for stealing money. He is learned and has come to work for us. We will support him,” said Gopal Biswas, a resident of Moyna who was there at the road show to see the BJP candidate.
Dressed in a saree with the BJP symbol and Modi’s photo in her hand, Shikha Jana had finished her house chores to attend the former judge’s campaign, all the while braving the heat. “We want development; a candidate who can give solutions to our problems. We don’t want corruption,” she told ThePrint, adding that a candidate with stature was chosen for their constituency.
At the same time, the housewife said she was happy with the Trinamool schemes. “I get Lakshmir Bhandar (monthly stipend for economically backward women by the TMC government from 2021) that is the only good thing about TMC. But the BJP claims it will increase the money,” she says.
As the heat of the election campaign continues, Abhijit Gangopadhyay reminds voters that the TMC remains neck deep in corruption. “I don’t want to say much, but the Trinamool Congress is a party of thieves who have stolen your money, job. Vote against corruption and unemployment; vote early in the morning; vote for Modi ji, and I will serve you for the next five years,” he told a rally.
Tamluk will cast vote 25 May.
Suvendu narrated how Gangopadhyay had single-handedly sent former Trinamool leader and education minister Partha Chatterjee to jail.
“I am enjoying the journey; I don’t regret quitting the judiciary. I have realised this is one of the finest jobs. The voters are very aware and educated, and they have understood how they have been cheated by the Trinamool government. What I have felt during my campaigns is that the people have taken back their support from the Trinamool Congress. Not that they are all joining the BJP, but the TMC has lost the support of voters,” Gangopadhyay told ThePrint.
Also Read: Family feud, broken marriage echo in battle for West Bengal’s Srerampur seat
Battleground Tamluk
Though the seat is a bastion of Suvendhu Adhikari, the electoral fight is no pushover here. The TMC candidate is its student leader Debangshu Bhattacharya of ‘Khela Hobe’ fame. Bhattacharya, the TMC social media cell head, had coined the slogan that became a rage in the 2021 Bengal polls.
Sayan Banerjee, an advocate in the high court, is the CPI(M)’s choice of candidate in this high-profile constituency.
“Didi told me the day my name was announced for the election that if she can defeat (former Lok Sabha Speaker) Somnath Chatterjee at the age of 30, I can defeat that ex-judge at 28,” Bhattacharya told ThePrint.
Both TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek have held sabhas and road shows to garner support for him in Tamluk.
“The man who isn’t leaving an AC room to campaign; you believe he will be working for you for the next five years? I don’t,” Debangshu told a rally. “I am not Dibyendu Adhikari (the sitting MP who switched to the BJP). I will be working for you, and you will see my work as I take Tamluk to great heights in Parliament.”
Tamluk comprises seven assembly seats of Haldia, Nandigram, Mahishadal, Panskura Purba, Moyna, Nandakumar, and Tamluk. In 2021, when TMC swept West Bengal, Suvendu had defeated Mamata in a prestige battle at Nandigram. The ruling party won 4 out of the 7 seats in what is known as “Adhikaris fort”.
Known for the violent land-acquisition stir that shaped the political landscape of Bengal, the 2007 Nandigram land agitation saw the meteoric rise of Mamata as a fierce opposition leader against the then erstwhile Left government. And it was Suvendu, then Mamata’s prodigy, who had essayed a frontal role in shaping the stir.
In March, Suvendu’s younger brother Dibyendu Adhikari followed the steps earlier taken by the LoP to join the BJP. Five years ago, Dibyendu had got 50.07 percent vote share, while the BJP’s share was 36.92 percent.
The Suvendu factor remains strong in Purba Medinipur and will help the BJP to win, said political analyst Biswanath Chakraborty. “There has been hardly any development in terms of industries in this belt by the TMC government, and Suvendu remains the ground leader who is now seen as the lone challenger to Mamata in Bengal. So, the Suvendu factor will hugely help Abhijit Gangopadhyay on polling day,” Chakraborty told ThePrint.
As for the BJP candidate, he remains assured of a positive response from the voters. “I have tracked the opposition campaigns in this constituency online. The TMC is negligible, but the CPI(M) has drawn a fair bit of crowd. No other party than the BJP has been able to organise campaigns here like we have,” Gangopadhyay told ThePrint.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: RSS-run schools are going strong in West Bengal, and Trinamool Congress is irked