KOLKATA — A political slugfest surfaced in West Bengal on Monday over a statement hinting at possible President’s Rule in the state by the former judge of Calcutta High Court and the current BJP Lok Sabha MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay.
The MP from Tamluk constituency in East Midnapore district, Gangopadhyay had alleged that the situation for President’s Rule in the state will arise as there will be tremendous deterioration in the law and order situation following the surfacing of a major scam soon.
“Information about a major scam in the state will surface in the next few days. This will propel an all-round protest throughout the state, which might even result in a marathon strike extending up to 72 hours. The people will rightfully protest and demand President’s Rule,” Gangopadhyay claimed.
Following these comments, Gangopadhyay came under a scathing attack from Trinamool Congress leadership, who questioned how justified the statements in favour of President’s Rule from Gangopadhyay were, both as an MP and also a former judge of the Calcutta High Court.
Trinamool Congress’ state General Secretary, Kunal Ghosh, said that if Gangopadhyay has some specific information about any brewing scam in West Bengal, he should approach the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) with that information.
“And if he is so keen to get President’s Rule imposed in West Bengal, he had better approach the United Nations with that proposal. These are also cliched statements. The people of West Bengal are still with Trinamool Congress as they have always been,” Ghosh said.
Even as a former judge of Calcutta High Court, Gangopadhyay had been in the national headlines because of his landmark judgments one after another opening the path for CBI and Enforcement Directorate (ED) probes in the multi-crore cash-for-school job case in West Bengal, which followed arrests of several politically influential people, including the former education minister and ex-Trinamool Congress General Secretary, Partha Chatterjee.
Before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he resigned from the chair of Calcutta High Court and successfully contested from the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency that year. –IANS
