Former India cricket team captain Saurav Ganguly today said that being chosen for the position of the next president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) did not involve any mainstream political deal or understanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the truth,\u201d he said in an interview with a Bengali television channel, in Mumbai. He said that even when he had a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah, no political matters were discussed. Answering a question, Ganguly said that there had been no understanding that if he became BCCI chief he would have to carry out some political role.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the same\u201d when it comes to Didi or Amit Shah, said Ganguly, that a top political leader would want the best people to be part of their work. \u201cBut that is a different matter and I am not involved in politics. There is no understanding that being chosen as BCCI president will entail some political role,\u201d Ganguly clarified. He said that till 10.30 pm on Sunday, he himself was not aware that he would be asked to take up the top job, and had in fact congratulated\u00a0Brijesh Patel as he was expected to be the next BCCI chief.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Union home minister Amit Shah \u2013 rumoured to be the prime mover behind Saurav Ganguly been offered the position of the BCCI chief \u2013 told a TV channel that he had played no role in choosing Saurav. \u201cI do not decide who will be the BCCI president. The BCCI has its own election process. I did not have any deal or meeting with Ganguly about this,\u201d Shah said. Amit Shah’s son Jay\u00a0Shah, former Gujarat Cricket Association joint secretary, will be the BCCI secretary and Arun Dhumal, brother of Union minister Anurag Thakur will be the treasurer of the cricket body.<\/p>\n
Asked if Saurav will be the face of BJP in 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, Shah said that wrong things were being said about Ganguly. Moreover, there was no need for a face for the BJP in Bengal, he said. \u201cWe won 18 seats without a face,\u201d Shah stated.<\/p>\n
Shah and Ganguly had a meeting last year. But he ruled out that it was relating to these issues. \u201cThey can come and meet me. I have been associated with cricket for many years. There is no problem in meeting Saurav Ganguly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Amit Shah is rumoured to be the prime mover behind offering Ganguly the position of BCCI chief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":6898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-6897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation"],"yoast_head":"\n