No political development at the moment: Sourav Ganguly
Kolkata: BCCI president-elect Sourav Ganguly Tuesday brushed aside speculations that he would join the saffron camp and said it would not happen "at the moment" as neither he nor Union home minister Amit Shah had any discussion about it during their recent meeting.
Shah had met Ganguly on Saturday trigerring speculations that the former Indian cricket captain had been offered the BCCI presidents post in return for which he would contest the crucial West Bengal assembly elections in 2021 as a BJP candidate.
Ganguly, who is the president of Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), had on Monday pipped former India batsman Brijesh Patel. He emerged as the lone contender in the race for the BCCI presidentship as he was the only one to have filed the nomination for world cricket's most-coveted post.
"I've heard these political questions before too when I met Mamata didi, the chief minister of West Bengal," Ganguly told reporters at CAB.
"I met Amit Shah for the first time. Neither was I asked a question on what's going to happen to BCCI, whether I'm going to get a post or not. Nor was there any discussion of the sort that 'you (meaning himself) get this (BCCI presidentship) only if you agree to that'. So there's no of political development at the moment," he said.
Shah's son Jay Shah will be the new secretary of BCCI and Arun Dhumal will be the new treasurer. Dhumal is the younger brother of MoS Finance and former BCCI president Anurag Thakur. On Monday West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh had said that if Ganguly joins politics "politics will prosper".
"Gautam Gambhir has joined BJP. The doors of BJP are open for everybody," he had said.
Parties cutting across political lines in West Bengal on Monday congratulated former Team India captain Sourav Ganguly after he emerged as the consensus candidate for the post of BCCI president.
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Shivakumar’s CM aspiration natural, high command will decide: Parameshwara
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said on Saturday that Deputy CM D K Shivakumar, as the state Congress president, naturally aspires to become chief minister. However, he added that the final decision rests with the party's high command.
Amid ongoing speculation about a leadership change within the ruling Congress, he wished Shivakumar "good luck".
"I have always wished him so. There is nothing else; we are good friends. He is the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) president, and naturally, he has an aspiration to become the chief minister. Nobody can object to it. But it all depends on what the high command decides,” Parameshwara said in response to a question regarding Shivakumar’s aspiration for the CM post.
Speaking to reporters, he said, “Don’t always go back to the CM issue. Please understand there is nothing that I can tell you about it. If I were part of the decision-making body or inside the decision-making body, I could definitely provide information.”
Supporters of Shivakumar have been insisting on his elevation in line with a reported power-sharing agreement with chief minister Siddaramaiah when the party won the 2023 Assembly elections. Some have even claimed that "sweet news" is expected by May 15, which is Shivakumar’s birthday.
Speculation has been circulating within the Congress and political circles about a possible leadership change and cabinet reshuffle after May 4, once the results of the Assembly elections in four states and one union territory, along with bypolls to two Assembly segments in Karnataka, are announced.
However, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday that there is no CM change in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state will be resolved soon.
On Friday, he said no date has been fixed yet to discuss a possible leadership change, while maintaining that any decision in this regard would be taken collectively by the party high command after due consultation.
Meanwhile, Parameshwara met senior Congress leader and MLC B K Hariprasad and Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan over dinner on Friday. Hariprasad had met Siddaramaiah earlier in the day.
Responding to a question about discussions at the dinner, as his name is also being mentioned for the chief minister post amid calls for a "Dalit CM", the home minister said there was no discussion about the chief minister issue.
“Hariprasad told me that he met the CM, but he did not disclose what was discussed between them. Hariprasad, Zameer Ahmed Khan, and I met over dinner, and we discussed the elections held in four states and one union territory. We analysed the national-level political situation and naturally discussed the state’s political developments,” he said.
When asked if he would travel to New Delhi to meet the party high command, Parameshwara said, “I will definitely go to Delhi. Nobody can stop me from going there. I will go when it is required.”
