In a contest that will be keenly watched in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, BJP has fielded former Calcutta High Court judge against TMC’s 27-year-old social media cell head from West Bengal’s Tamluk Lok Sabha seat.
BJP’s Abhijit Gangopadhyay will battle it out against TMC’s Debangshu Bhattacharya from the Tamluk parliamentary seat in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district.
Earlier, on March 10, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee announced names for all 42 seats of the state in one go.
Contest:
Interestingly, Justice (retired) Abhijit Gangopadhyay made headlines in 2021, when as a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, he made strong observations in the case pertaining to alleged irregularities in the recruitment of teachers by the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
He had then directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the case. Being a central agency, the CBI reports to the Union government, where the BJP is in power.
Later, while BJP was trying to make inroads into the state, it was alleged that there were ‘political motives’ behind Gangopadhyay’s rulings.
Even Mamata Banerjee had accused him of becoming a leader ‘after denying jobs to thousands of students’ and vowed to defeat the ‘BJP babu who was sitting on the bench’ if he contested the election.
“Be ready. Wherever you contest from, I will send students to fight you,” she had said.
Anticipating Gangopadhyay's nomination from Tamluk as media reports regarding this were doing the rounds, the Trinamool fielded Bhattacharya to take on the ex-judge.
Bhattacharya reportedly was active in student politics as a member of the TMC’s student wing, and has been handling the party's social media presence since 2022.
He is also credited with writing the successful 'Khela Hobe' campaign song in the run-up to the 2021 assembly polls.
