Is Sourav Ganguly finally taking the plunge into politics?
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee named the former BCCI president as the state’s brand ambassador earlier this week. “You cannot say no,” she told him on Tuesday at the Bengal Global Business Summit in Kolkata. Thank you, is all he was allowed to say. But Ganguly’s new hat has triggered questions about another feather he might add to his cap in the coming months: will he pad up for Mamata in 2024?
Ganguly’s ‘will he, won’t he’ is turning him into a Rajinikanth of West Bengal.
A political favourite
Dada, as Ganguly is fondly called, has been every political party’s dream candidate for years. The CPI (M) would have loved to have fielded him if he had given the nod. If not for a Lok Sabha seat, then certainly for Rajya Sabha. But Dada obviously didn’t oblige, though he was known to be close to a senior minister and the apple of former Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s eye.
Of course, during most of the CPI (M)’s tenure, Ganguly was actively playing cricket. But in 2021, ahead of the assembly election, he was a cricket administrator – BCCI president and working with secretary Jay Shah, son of Home Minister Amit Shah. And the BJP made it abundantly clear that Dada could be West Bengal CM if he wished.
That January, when Ganguly was rushed to hospital after a dizzy spell at his home gym and was found to have had a mild heart attack, there was a stampede of politicians to the hospital to see him. Mamata and then governor Jagdeep Dhankar were among the first to visit him after his angioplasty. Those who couldn’t see him in person, such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Shah, called to enquire about his well-being.
The TMC was fully cognisant that the BJP was furiously wooing Ganguly to field him as a candidate against Mamata. Its fairly subtle narrative to scuttle any chance of that was that the BJP was putting so much pressure on Ganguly to join politics that it had led to a heart attack. I remember reporting from outside the hospital during Ganguly’s health crisis; I reported less about his health and more about the political circus unfolding before our eyes.
The BJP pulled out all stops to woo Ganguly, but a second angioplasty later that month came as the perfect excuse for him to step away from the political battlefield.
The BJP missed its target of 200-plus seats in West Bengal that year. But till May 2022, it continued to nurture ties with Ganguly. Shah went to his home in Kolkata’s Behala for dinner, photographs of which went viral. Ganguly seemed to be striking a political balance, for the day after Shah dined with him, he praised Mamata at a public function, saying he was “very close to her.”
Also read: Bengalis are using Sourav Ganguly as punching bag. But what’s his steel magnate story anyway
When the BJP pulled away
In October 2022, the BJP appeared to decisively wash its hands off him. Former cricketer Roger Binny replaced him as BCCI chief that month, and somehow, Ganguly missed the bus to a seat at the high table of world cricket, the ICC presidentship. In the just-concluded Men’s World Cup, Ganguly was not even invited by the BCCI to watch the final between India and Australia at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Ganguly was very much there at the match, but on whose invite is not clear. Unlike Kapil Dev, he has not spoken on the issue. That was Sunday, 19 November. Forty-eight hours later, he was on stage with Mamata, who named him ambassador of West Bengal.
The timing, of course, can be mere coincidence. But I do think you could be forgiven for reading between the lines.
Not that Ganguly’s affection for Didi is a surprise. Just a couple of months ago, he joined her in Spain, where she had gone to seek investments for West Bengal. Spain is not a cricketing nation, as far as I know. Then, Ganguly caused quite a stir with his announcement that he – in association with a friend already in the business – was going to invest in a steel plant in West Bengal’s Salboni area.
The announcement was met with some scepticism at home, but Ganguly dismissed it, even if with an uncharacteristic display of impatience with those who raised the questions.
There was no word about his steel plant at the Bengal Global Business Summit, but no one really asked about it after he was declared the state’s ambassador. He is Bengal’s biggest sporting icon today. Having him represent the state is a big deal. What’s a little steel plant in comparison?
The question that, however, did sprinkle some cold water on the big announcement was, what happens to Bengal’s in situ ambassador, Shah Rukh Khan? Does he ride into the sunset as far as Bengal is concerned, or does he remain an envoy parallel? Is he going to be present at the Kolkata International Film Festival in December? He has been a star of that show for years, ever since he became the state’s ambassador over 10 years ago. What now?
Wish someone had cleared the air. After all, SRK – Jawan, Pathan and a zillion other things for millions of people – is not just anybody. In many eyes, probably, he is bigger than Dada.
But let that pass. The last thing we need is a vote on who should be Bengal’s ambassador. The moot point is what the ambassador can or will bring to the table for Bengal. Given his iconic status, the state has great expectations from Dada: some breathtaking chaukas and chhakas – not at Eden Gardens but perhaps in Parliament 2024.
This, of course, if Dada decides to go the whole hog and doesn’t get cold feet after teasing his fans in Bengal with the promise of what might be.
The author is a senior journalist based in Kolkata. She tweets @Monideepa62. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)