Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said that former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly was deprived of a second stint as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an attempt to benefit “a particular person”.
On her return from north Bengal, the CM, in a veiled reference to BCCI secretary Jay Shah, said, “Real sportspeople have been deprived due to vested interests. He (Ganguly) said nothing because he is a good boy. He must have been in pain but he didn’t let anyone know. We are not taking it lightly. We are shocked (by the incident). This is a shameful political vendetta.”
“I am not saying this because he is a Bengali. I would have said the same about Sachin (Tendulkar) or Azhar (Mohammad Azharuddin),” she claimed. The BJP is depriving those who have brought laurels to the country for its own selfish motive, she alleged.
Later, addressing a programme in Kolkata, the CM claimed had India contested, it would have won the ICC chairman’s post. “Those who are eligible to contest were not allowed to file nomination. It has been done to secure the post for someone. I feel ashamed because of such cheap politics that is at play,” Banerjee said.
The TMC supremo had earlier requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allow Ganguly to run for the ICC post.
The removal of Ganguly, a popular figure in West Bengal, from the BCCI has led to a political slugfest between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the BJP. The CPI(M) and the Congress too have questioned Ganguly’s exit from the cricket body. Non-BJP parties have alleged that the former cricketer had to pay the price for saying no to joining the BJP.
Last year, Ganguly’s name did the rounds in political circles as a probable BJP chief ministerial candidate had the party won the Assembly polls. At the time, the TMC also reportedly tried to get Ganguly to join it. Sources close to the former cricket captain said he felt tremendous pressure from both sides in the run-up to the polls and subsequently decided not to take political plunge. On May 7, Ganguly had hosted a dinner for Home Minister Amit Shah at his Kolkata home, triggering a fresh round of speculations.
Roger Binny, a team member of 1983 world cup cricket winning team became the new BCCI president while Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah was reinstated as secretary of the board.
Banerjee had on Monday said, “Sourav Ganguly is not only the pride of Bengal but also of the entire nation. He has led the Indian cricket team and the BCCI with utmost dedication and responsibility. The Supreme Court had given a three-year extension to both Ganguly and Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah who, for reasons not yet known, is still continuing as the BCCI secretary. We don’t have any problem with Jay Shah continuing at the BCCI. He is not a BJP member. If he does good work, I will support him. But, if he doesn’t, we will question him. Our grievance is why Sourav Ganguly was let go from the BCCI. We want to know on whose order was it done. We believe that injustice has been done to Ganguly.”
“The only compensation to this is that Ganguly be allowed to contest the ICC chairman’s elections. There’s precedence for that. Both Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sharad Pawar went on to lead the ICC after completion of their tenure at the BCCI,” she added.
Later, Banerjee on Thursday inaugurated Kali Pujas in Kolkata. She first inaugurated the Janbazar Kali Puja followed by the pujas of Youth Friends of Shakespeare Sarani, India Club of Devendra Ghosh Road and Venus Club of Harish Mukherjee Road.