Denied a second term as BCCI chief, Sourav Ganguly’s balancing act in Bengal could have run him out of favours from BJP

The former Indian cricket captain and sports icon is courted by both the BJP and TMC, yet has sought to remain on good terms with all parties, including in the Left

It became clear on Tuesday in sporting and political circles that former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly will not get a second term as the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Quick to react, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and accused it of acting in “political vendetta” against one of West Bengal’s biggest sporting icons.

“Another example of political vendetta. Son of @AmitShah can be retained as Secretary of #BCCI. But @SGanguly99 can’t be. Is it because he is from the State of @MamataOfficial or he didn’t join @BJP4India? We are with you Dada!,” Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen tweeted.

The tweet by a senior Trinamool leader is an attempt to suggest Mr. Ganguly has been side-lined since he is from West Bengal, thereby attempting to raise the plank of “Bengali nationalism”, an issue which the party used successfully in the 2021 Assembly polls. 

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Earlier this year, in May, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had dinner at Mr. Ganguly’s Kolkata residence along with other senior BJP leaders from the State. The very next day, on May 8, Mr. Ganguly was heard describing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as “ kaacher manus“ (someone very close to him).  Mr. Ganguly was also present at a grand event organised by the West Bengal Government on September 1 to thank UNESCO for including ‘Durga Puja in Kolkata’ in its list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. 

Not only has Mr. Ganguly met Ms. Banerjee a number of times at the State Secretariat, he was also much sought after in the earlier Left Front regime, and its then former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee never missed an opportunity to meet him. The left-handed batsman always found himself on the right side of the Left regime, and had Ministers like Asok Bhattacharya publicly proclaiming themselves a fan of the former Indian captain. Recently, Mr. Bhattacharya, who seemed upset with both the BJP and TMC for reaching out to Mr. Ganguly and using him politically, had said that such overtures were putting pressure on the cricketing legend.