Sourav Ganguly hosts Amit Shah for dinner, fuels talk of joining BJP

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, May 6

Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s dinner engagement at BCCI president Sourav Ganguly’s Kolkata residence on Friday has rekindled speculation about the latter joining the BJP.

Shah, who arrived in West Bengal on Thursday for a two-day visit, wrapped up his tour with the dinner before flying back to Delhi in the evening.

Ganguly told the media that he and Shah’s son Jay Shah were colleagues in the BCCI. “We know each other for a long time,” Ganguly said, adding social courtesy demanded that he invited the Home Minister for a meal at his residence.

Courtesy call

Jay Shah (Shah’s son) is a colleague and we know each other for a long timehellip; It (dinner) was a courtesy call. Sourav Ganguly, BCCI Chief

On CM Mamata Banerjee’s suggestion that he must serve Shah “mishti doi” and “rosogolla”, Ganguly said it was natural that Didi would like Shah to be offered Bengali sweets. Shah had reportedly played a significant role in Ganguly’s appointment as the BCCI president.

Earlier in the day, the Home Minister attended a cultural programme featuring Ganguly’s Odissi dancer wife Dona Ganguly. The event was organised by the Ministry of Culture at Victoria Memorial. While Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar was invited, Banerjee was ignored.

Sources said pressure was mounted on Ganguly by the BJP to join the party ahead of the last year’s Assembly elections in West Bengal. However, he could not make up his mind and refused to take the plunge.