Sourav Ganguly's statue becomes scapegoat of political rivalry

Member of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) and former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly unveiled his statue at Balurghat in West Bengal a few days ago. The event was marked by many incidents. The first one was that Dada travelled in a train after almost 15 years. Secondly, he had to give up his AC first class ticket to a fellow passenger who claimed it to be his. But after a lot of hustle of bustle, he finally reached Balurghat.

Ganguly was ecstatic after reaching the place to see his giant 8-feet statue made up of bronze. He clicked a selfie with the statue and captioned the image humorously “Looks like me”. But as it seems, there is some bad news awaiting him. The statue, which was supposed to stay at the main entrance of the local stadium, has been removed owing to a political dispute.

Rift between two parties

According to the reports, President of District Sports Association and Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leader, Mr Goutam Goswami didn’t invite the MPs or MLAs of the ruling party Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the event. Prodipto Roychowdury, who is a local resident, reported that the TMC leaders were agitated to hear this and it led to a clash of ego between the two political parties.

Things got messed up further and as a result of the dispute, Ganguly’s statue was removed from the main gate of the stadium and was dumped inside the stadium. It was now the turn of cricket enthusiasts to get angry as they couldn’t bear such an insult to the Prince of Calcutta. The fans decided to organise a strike as a protest symbol. Seeing the matter slipping out of the hands, the local council wrote a decision to the District Sports Association (DSA).

DSA’s decision

The local council has suggested the DSA shifts the statue from the main gate of the stadium to another vital place of the town. But the DSA is trying to keep the statue in its rightful place which is the entrance of the stadium. If there is no other option, the statue will be shifted to Ganguly’s residence at Behala in Kolkata. The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) president has also agreed to it.