Ending all speculations, former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh has joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was one of the most decorated police officer in the state who was credited for tackling the Maoist problem effectively after Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011.
Ending all speculations, former IPS officer Bharati Ghosh has joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). She was one of the most decorated police officer in the state who was credited for tackling the Maoist problem effectively after Trinamool Congress came to power in 2011.
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Ghosh who also worked as Officer in Special Duty for regions affected by Left Wing Extremism called Mamata as Ma of Junglemahal when they were in good terms.
Bharati Ghosh who was once in Mamata Banerjee's inner coterie had a fall out with her and resigned from the service on December 2017. After that she got caught in a legal tangle with a case of extortion filed against her and people close to Ghosh. Several times her home was raided. On December, her close aide was arrested from Delhi by Bengal CID.
There were speculations of her joining BJP from last year and expectedly just before elections, Ghosh has joined the saffron party.
In August last year, in an audio message, Ghosh had made her political views clear. And it was expected that she would join BJP. It is left to be seen whether she contests in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
Regarding Mamata's dharna, Ghosh said after joining BJP, "This is not satyagraha,but asatyagraha andolan. Why is she defending a police officer? Probe can't be stop like that".
Later speaking to ANI, she claimed that democracy needs to be restored in West Bengal.
“I am in favour of truth, honesty and good governance. When Mamata was in opposition, her image was pure but now a lot has changed. When people move from the truth to falsehood Bharti Ghosh also changes. So I havecome to BJP to foster the institution of democracy and to help people.”
She also criticised the Kolkata police commissioner for being present at the TMC Dharna and said, "The neutrality of this police personnel will be questioned. By attending a political dharna they have given a clear message that they are working for that particular party and have become like party cadre."
1. Bharati Ghosh joins BJP in Delhi
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প্রাক্তন আইপিএস অফিসার শ্রীমতি ভারতী ঘোষ জাতীয়তাবাদী ভারতীয় জনতা পার্টিতে যোগদান করলেন।
— BJP Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) February 4, 2019
উনাকে স্বাগত এবং গৈরিক অভিনন্দন... pic.twitter.com/yMIWegHPmB
She was welcomed to the party by Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and BJP leaders Kailash Vijayvargiya & Mukul Roy were present.
Even when Mukul Roy was in TMC, he had a close rapport with Bharati Ghosh who was the SP of West Midnapore at that time.
2. Who is Bharati ghosh?
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Bharati Ghosh is one of the most well-known cop of Bengal with a brilliant academic and service background. Alum of Jadavpur University, Ghosh has also studied in Harvard University and London School of Economics.
She was part of the UN peacekeeping force and won several awards for her stellar work. She had assignments in different African countries namelyChad, Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Somalia. Ghosh even lead a multi-brigade force with distinction in war-torn Kosovo.
She brought her experience to good use as a cop in West Bengal and soon shot to prominence. She also became very close to Mamata Banerjee and was one of her trusted police officers.
3. Bharati Ghosh and brush with controversy
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Even as serving IPS officer, Bharati Ghosh earned ire of BJP and other opposition parties for allegedly favouring TMC.
Ghosh was transferred from post of SP West Midnapore before the General 2014 elections by EC. Later she was reinstated by Mamata Banerjee and was given Chief Minister’s Commendable Service medal
During the 2016 elections, she was again transferred from the post of Office on Special Duty Left Wing Extremism to the post of special superintendent of CID. She was also restrained from leaving Kolkata before the 5th and 6th phase of polling, a move which was widely hailed by all opposition parties including BJP.
At that time BJP had hailed the decision with BJP state president Dilip Ghosh calling her a failed cop.
“Bharati Ghosh is a failed SP ,who was once stoned by KGP people. I welcome the recent step of Election commission,” Dilip Ghosh had tweeted on March 19, 2016.
4. Fallout with Mamata Banerjee
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Sometimes around late 2017, Bharati Ghosh had a fallout with Mamata Banerjee. It was widely perceived that she was getting closer to the BJP leadership and that didn't go down well with WB CM. From the high-profile post she commanded, Bharati was transferred to Barrackpore as Third Battalion Commandant leading to her resignation on December 27, 2017.
However, soon legal troubles began to haunt Bharati Ghosh. In February 2018, a case of extortion was filed against Bharati Ghosh and others by state CID. After that, Ghosh left the state. In 22nd December 2018, her close aide Sujit Mondal was arrested by Bengal CID in connection with the case. With the Bengal police machinery breathing down her neck, Ghosh had alleged political vendetta before and said that she would join a political party. Now, she has just done so bringing a new twist in the political cauldron of Bengal.
