Why Sourav Ganguly is in the middle of a TMC vs BJP spat

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has found himself in the middle of a spat between the BJP and the Trinamool Congress.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, jumping into the fray on Monday, said she was shocked that Ganguly was ‘deprived’ of a second term as BCCI president.

Banerjee, while talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport before leaving for a trip to north Bengal, said she would urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene so that Ganguly is allowed to contest the elections for ICC chief.

“Sourav has proved himself to be an able administrator, and I am shocked at his removal from the BCCI president’s post. This was injustice meted out to him.

I will request the Prime Minister to ensure that Ganguly is allowed to contest elections for ICC chief, she said.

There should be no politics on this matter, Banerjee added.

Let’s take a closer look at the matter:

Dada in demand

As per The Hindu, there has always been tension between the BJP and TMC over Ganguly given his stature within Bengal.

In May, a day after home minister Amit Shah dined at Ganguly’s Kolkata residence along with other senior BJP leaders, Ganguly was heard describing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as “ kaacher manus“ (someone very close to him), as per The Hindu.

As per PTI, Ganguly on 1 September joined the thanksgiving programme held by the state government to thank UNESCO for according the Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) tag the Durga Puja and delivered a speech remembering his experiences and association with the festival.

As per The Hindu, Ganguly met Banerjee a number of times at the state Secretariat was also in demand after the previous Left Front regime of then chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Bhattacharya recently chided both the BJP and TMC for ‘using’ Ganguly politically, and said that such overtures were putting pressure on the cricketing legend.

Sources in the BJP told The Hindu the party leadership had been trying to bring Ganguly into its fold since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Ganguly was even offered any seat of his choice in the state, which he considered too risky, as per the report.

As per The Week, the saffron party at the very least expected Ganguly’s support ahead of the 2021 polls –  if not joining the party outright.

Party insiders claimed no one wanted Ganguly to become chief minister but party leadership at least wanted Ganguly to at least ask his fans to vote for the BJP.

The piece noted that former minister Ashok Bhattacharya even went to Ganguly’s home and asked him not to endorse any party.

“Sourav told me don’t worry Ashok da. I will not do any mistake,” Bhattacharya said.

While it seemed like Ganguly would join the BJP, his heart attack changed everything. Meanwhile, the BJP lost in the Assembly polls.

BJP, TMC spar over Ganguly

This isn’t the first time the BJP and TMC have sparred over Ganguly.

Last week, the BJP claimed it never tried to recruit Ganguly and accused the TMC of shedding ‘crocodile tears’.

“We don’t know when the BJP tried to induct Sourav Ganguly into the party. Sourav Ganguly is a cricketing legend. Some people are now shedding crocodile tears about the changes in BCCI. Did they have any role when he took over as BCCI president? The TMC should stop politicising every issue,” BJP national vice-president Dilip Ghosh tweeted.

TMC MP Santanu Sen tweeted:

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!

— DR SANTANU SEN (@SantanuSenMP) October 11, 2022

Speaking to Hindustan Times, Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the party is not commenting directly on this matter.

“But since the BJP floated such propaganda during and after the polls, it will surely be the responsibility of the BJP to respond to such speculations (that politics is behind Ganguly not getting a second term as BCCI chief). It seems the BJP is trying to humiliate Sourav,” he said.

“I think Sourav is the best person to explain the situation. If he has any political interpretation of the situation, I don’t know how much he can articulate,” Ghosh added.

‘Will go on to bigger things’

Ganguly on Saturday said will be back as the president of his state unit, the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB).

Ganguly, who stepped down from the BCCI president’s post, had been the CAB president for four years between 2015 to 2019 before coming to the BCCI.

“Yes, I will be contesting the CAB polls. I plan to file my nomination on 22 October. I have been in CAB for five years and as per Lodha Rules, I can continue for another four years,” Ganguly told PTI.

Ganguly said he will move on to something else, after ending his tenure as the BCCI President.

Reports over the last couple of days have claimed Ganguly wanted to continue as the BCCI chief, but did not get the support from the state associations and other members.

“I have been an administrator and I will move on to something else,” he said at an event. “Whatever you do in life the best days are when you played for India. I have been president of BCCI and I will go on to do bigger things,” he added.

Roger Binny is set to succeed Ganguly as the BCCI president.

There has been no official statement from the BCCI about the matter. Ganguly confirmed that he will do something else.

“I never believed in history but the feeling in the past was East lacked talent to play at that level. You don’t become an Ambani or Narendra Modi in one day. You have to work for months and years to get there,” Ganguly said.

Ganguly also said playing for India was tougher than administrative duties. “When you do back office work, sitting on tables, you have time to correct things. But if you nicked a delivery from Glenn McGrath on the first morning of a Test, you were out… that’s a major difference.

“You can’t play forever, you can’t be an administrator forever, but it has been great fun doing both and seeing both sides of the coin.”

With inputs from agencies

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