“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,” she said.
Mamata, while talking to reporters at the Kolkata airport, said she will request PM Modi to ensure that Ganguly is allowed to contest elections for ICC chief.
Mamata said that if Jay Shah can continue as the board’s secretary, then Ganguly could have also stayed on as the BCCI chief. However, the TMC chief added that she has no objection to Jay Shah’s continuation as the secretary.
There should be no politics on this matter, she added.
Reacting to the chief minister’s comments, BJP’s state spokesman Samik Bhattacharya said that it is Mamata and Trinamool Congress who are politicising the issue.
“No one ever before continued as the BCCI president for two consecutive terms. There is no politics in the matter,” he said.
Earlier too, TMC had lashed out at BJP over Ganguly‘s departure as BCCI chief and accused it of “trying to humiliate” the former India skipper for not joining the saffron party.
“Since the BJP floated such propaganda during and after the 2021 polls, it will surely be the responsibility of the party 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,” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said.
The former India captain is set to be replaced as board president by 1983 World Cup winning-team member Roger Binny in the apex body’s upcoming AGM (Annual general Meeting).
(With inputs from agencies)