Fake news of Sourav Ganguly joning BJP goes viral on the internet

Fake news has the tendency of spreading faster than a wildfire on social media platforms. Recently, a rumour of former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly joining the Bhartiya Janata Party started taking rounds and ultimately turned into a viral news.

A Facebook page called ‘Paschim Bange BJP Chai’ (We want BJP in West Bengal) shared a post claiming that Ganguly has joined the BJP party. The caption of the post was written in Bengali. Translated, it says, “Former cricket captain Sourav Ganguly joins BJP and PM Narendra Modi’s sabka saath sabka vikas agenda, is joined by an honest, dedicated man who is loved by India. Today is a day of celebration ……let’s share the news.”

But the truth is far from it. Ganguly, who is the current president of Cricket Association of Bengal has not joined BJP, or any political party as a matter of fact.

Previous occasions

However, this is not the first time his name has been associated with a political party. Thanks to his contribution to Indian cricket and his international popularity, the Prince of Calcutta is one of the most influential personalities of Bengal. All the previous ruling parties of West Bengal has tried to rope in Ganguly for their political agendas.

In 2014, a proposal of standing in the Lok Sabha elections was sent by BJP to Dada, as he is lovingly called. Before becoming the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi wanted him to be the Sports Minister of India.

Ganguly’s response

But on all these occasions, Ganguly was absolutely firm on is the stand of not joining any political party. He has always kept himself away from it, and he continues to do so.

“Yes, the BJP did make an offer. However, I have declined it. I won’t be contesting the elections,” he said after the 2014 invitation. He was also offered a Rajya Sabha seat, just like his longtime on-field partner Sachin Tendulkar. But his response was the same. “No. My place is the cricket ground, not the Parliament.”

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