Is Sourav Ganguly a masterstroke by Amit Shah for 2021 BJP election?
Sourav Ganguly is all set to become the BCCI President after a late-night drama in a hotel. Backed by Anurag Thakur, Sourav Ganguly filed the nomination on Sunday and is expected to take office on 23rd October.
While Dada will now run the most powerful cricket board of the world, there is a political move orchestrated by National BJP President and Home Minister Amit Shah. Shah has been trying to pitch Ganguly as the BJP’s challenger to Mamta Banerjee in West Bengal.
Amit Shah hosted a meeting at his Delhi home with Sourav Ganguly last week
Amit Shah hosted a meeting at his Delhi home with Sourav Ganguly last week. Soon he called his troubleshooter, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Assam leader and asked him to go to Mumbai. Amit Shah seems convinced of the efficacy of his “Dada vs Didi” plan for the battle in West Bengal.
Sarma was continuously on phones till late Sunday night and made sure that all the candidates for the election of BCCI President bow out. Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah has been made the secretary of the BCCI. Brother of Anurag Thakur (who once was BCCI president), Arun Dhumal will be the new treasurer for the topmost cricketing body in the country. It seems like a virtual takeover of BJP on the Indian cricket.
Sourav Ganguly denied any political ambitions.
The Assembly election in West Bengal is due in 2021. Sourav Ganguly who is the president of CAB (Cricket Association of Bengal) has only endorsed the “Clean India” initiative for BJP. After filing the nomination for BCCI President on Sunday, he admitted that he met Amit Shah but denied any political ambitions.
Interestingly, Saurav Ganguly’s tenure as BCCI President will end in 10 months. Rules state that the cooling-off period will begin then as he would have served six years in an administrative position for cricket. This will be the perfect time to use Saurav and start the campaign for BJP in West Bengal elections 2021.
The biggest gap in West Bengal for BJP is to have a ‘face with an X factor’. Current BJP Chief of West Bengal, Mukul Roy who defected from TMC in 2017 has worked extremely hard to establish BJP in the state. However, lack of heft and charisma hasn’t been able to swing directions from his former party. Mukul Roy is also battling some corruption charges and he was recently summoned by ED.
Mukul Roy might not be thrilled with Shah’s latest gambit
It is believed that Mukul Roy might not be thrilled with Shah’s latest gambit but he has no choice other than to support the plan. BJP bettered his number massively in the 2019 general election by notching up 18 seats, up from just 2 in 2014. Amit Shah had made several rallies in Bengal to challenge CM Mamta Banerjee led TMC.
Cricket being the national obsession, Ganguly and team will be looked very carefully. If the new team delivers on an efficient and clean administration of BCCI, then he will add to his credentials. BCCI has never been known for transparency and Ganguly will be judged on whether that changes. Ganguly has experience of administration of almost 5 years for Cricket Association of Bengal where he has been clean and commendable. The structure of West Bengal cricket has seen a lot of development in the last few years. The famous Eden Gardens has become a better ground under the administration of Dada.
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Ganguly with his experience is expected to end the crisis at BCCI
The BCCI has been going through a crisis in last 3 three years. Ganguly with his experience is expected to end the crisis and fill the the void created in the last few years.
In 1999, when several Indian cricketers were named in the match-fixing, the Indian team was isolated. Sourav stepped up and took his team to glory as captain. BCCI is going through somehow a similar phase and it needs someone like Sourav to handle the richest cricket board of the world.
India’s only individual Olympics gold medal winner Abhinav Bindra has some suggestions for Sourav. He said the Indian cricket team doesn’t have travelling doctor and it needs to be fixed. Captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri aren’t medical experts. The BCCI should also make Cricket global and shouldn’t resist it going to the Olympics. He also said that BCCI is rich so they need to hand hold other sports too.
It doesn’t matter how Ganguly performs as the BCCI president, he can’t do anything wrong in Bengal which Amit Shah wants to cash in. Apart from Ganguly, Shah is also in talks with a former captain, say sources.
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