Sourav Ganguly, the legendary Indian cricketer and former president of BCCI, is likely to get Rajya Sabha membership. BJP hopes to field Ganguly from West Bengal in Rajya Sabha. BJP will contest for the only vacant Rajya Sabha seat in Bengal. Along with Ganguly, the names of Bengal megastar Mithun Chakraborty are being considered as candidates. The party leaders are also considering some other names suggested by the party state leadership. State leaders sent two separate lists to Delhi. One list was presented by BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar, while the other was presented by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari. There are four names in Suvendu Adhikari’s list.
He proposed the names of Sourav Ganguly, former Rajya Sabha member Mithun Chakraborty, BJP national executive member Anirban Ganguly and Greater Coochbehar People’s Association chairman Ananth Maharaj.
On the other hand, Majumdar’s list includes former Rajya Sabha members Rupa Ganguly, Swapan Dasgupta, BJP Bengal spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya, former railway minister Dinesh Trivedi and Ananth Maharaj.
During his stint as BCCI president, Ganguly came into close contact with BJP leaders through Board Secretary Jai Shah, son of the Home Minister. Sourav Ganguly was nominated by the party leaders. However, no consent has been received from Ganguly yet. It remains to be seen whether Dada will accept the BJP’s offer.