On October 11, West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress accused the BJP of seeking to humiliate the former Indian skipper by refusing to accept him into the party, amid speculations that Roger Binny is poised to succeed Sourav Ganguly as BCCI President.
According to Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, the BJP made an effort to convince voters that Mr. Ganguly, who enjoys enormous popularity in the state, would join the party before the previous year’s assembly elections.
The Trinamool claimed that Mr. Ganguly’s inability to serve a second term as BCCI President while his father, Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, may, is an example of political vendetta.
The BJP rejected the accusations, claiming that the party never attempted to accept Mr. Ganguly, a.k.a. the Prince of Calcutta, as his followers refer to him.
The 1983 World Cup winning squad member Roger Binny, who nominated himself on October 11 for the position of BCCI President, is likely to be elected without competition when the board meets its annual general meeting on October 18 in Mumbai.
If no other candidates step forward, Jay Shah, who has already submitted his nomination, would serve as BCCI Secretary for a second consecutive term. Mr. Shah is anticipated to take over from Mr. Ganguly as the representative of India at the ICC Board.
The Trinamool state general secretary made reference to Amit Shah when he said that a top BJP politician had supper at the home of the former Indian cricket team captain in May of this year.
Santanu Sen, a Trinamool MP, expressed support for Mr. Ganguly and questioned why the BCCI President would not be given a second term.
Dilip Ghosh, national vice-president of the BJP, referred to the accusations as baseless.
At one point, Mr. Ganguly was thought to be the candidate the BJP planned to bring in to take the helm of the West Bengal chapter of the party in order to defeat Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The cricketer, on the other hand, has shied away from politics and focused only on cricket management.
After hosting Amit Shah for dinner, Mr. Ganguly informed reporters that there had been rumors, but it was just because Mr. Shah is someone he has known for a very long time.
News Mania Desk
