In the Bengal elections, Mamata Banerjee has been defeated by Subhendu Adhikari from Bhawanipur seat. Now Subhendu Adhikari is the Chief Minister of the state. In such a situation, speculations were being made that Mamata Banerjee could enter Parliament through by-elections. A report in a Bengali daily claimed that Trinamool Congress had sought help from former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly.
So that he can convince former cricketer Yusuf Pathan to resign from the post of Baharampur MP and Mamata Banerjee Can contest by-elections there. However, Ganguly has now denied these sensational claims, calling them “ignoring the truth”.
At the center of this controversy is a report published in a popular Bengali daily on Mamata’s political future. The report says that to keep herself relevant and make a comeback, Mamata Banerjee can go to the Lok Sabha.
What is the Sourav-Yusuf-Mamata dispute?
The report quoted sources as saying that TMC is eyeing the Baharampur seat in Murshidabad district. Former cricketer Yusuf Pathan emerged as a big killer in 2024 by winning the seat against old Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhary. TMC considered it a safe seat for Mamata Banerjee because the main vote bank of the party in Baharampur is Muslim population of 50-52%.
The report said that the party contacted Sourav Ganguly to convey Mamata’s message to Pathan and urged him to vacate the Baharampur seat so that he can contest in the upcoming by-elections.
Sourav and Yusuf have played together as teammates for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in IPL. The report further claimed that Pathan had refused the alleged proposal.
There is a ruckus in Trinamool Congress
This report has also come at a time when there was talk of rebellion in the Trinamool parliamentary party. Sources have said that 23 TMC MPs were in contact with the rebel camp of the party led by Ritabrata Banerjee. Sourav Ganguly gave clarification
When this report created a huge political stir in Bengal, Ganguly issued a detailed statement on Saturday calling the claims “completely false”.
The former BCCI president clarified that he has never been involved in political matters, and asked the media to verify the facts before publishing such sensational reports.
Ganguly called the claim wrong
Ganguly said, “The allegations made in the article, as far as I am concerned, completely ignore the truth.” He further said that Mamata never asked him to give any message on her behalf to Yusuf Pathan. He also denied ever contacting Pathan on this issue.
Ganguly further said, “I never contacted Yusuf Pathan… In such a situation, the question of Pathan responding in the manner mentioned in the article does not and cannot arise.“
The controversy occurred when Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee are scheduled to reach Delhi on June 8 to attend the India Block meeting and pacify the angry TMC MP.
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