Ashok Dinda Urges Sourav Ganguly to Join BJP, Says It Would 'Clean Bowl' TMC in Bengal Polls

Ashok Dinda, the former India and Bengal fast bowler, is now the BJP's candidate in Moyna, and he has a wish for the campaign: he wants Sourav Ganguly in the party. In an interview with PTI, Dinda said that if the BCCI president joined the BJP, the ruling Trinamool Congress would be "clean bowled." He went further, saying the party would not merely cross 200 seats in West Bengal but might even take all 294.

Ganguly has been reportedly linked to the BJP since he became BCCI president in October 2019. He has made no political commitment. Recovering after angioplasty following minor heart attacks, he recently played down the talk, saying only that they would see where it goes, what opportunities come along, and take it from there. Dinda said the BJP badly wants "Dada" and that his arrival would mean a landslide.

Dinda, 36, played 13 ODIs and nine T20Is for India. He took 420 first-class wickets over a 14-year career and is the second-highest wicket-taker in West Bengal's history, behind Utpal Chatterjee. He retired after his last domestic appearance, for Goa, and joined the BJP on February 24, almost three weeks later. In Moyna, in Purba Medinipur district, he faces Trinamool's Sangram Kumar Dolai, who has been the sitting legislator since 2016. Dinda comes from Noichunpur village in the constituency. Moyna votes in the second phase, on April 1.

Dinda said he wants Ganguly beside him in this new innings, in good times and bad, because Ganguly has always stood by him. He admitted he has not spoken to Ganguly since entering politics; the past few days have been so busy that he has not even managed to call his family. He said he knows Ganguly is with him regardless. He described Ganguly as his cricket idol and Suvendu Adhikari as his political mentor.

Adhikari is the BJP candidate in Nandigram, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has left her Bhowanipore seat in Kolkata to challenge her former lieutenant. Nandigram was the site of the anti-land acquisition movement that helped bring Trinamool to power in 2011. Adhikari, once a minister in Banerjee's cabinet, joined the BJP in December at a Medinipur rally addressed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Dinda defended the switch, saying Adhikari had been reduced to a "lamp post" and had little choice. He recalled watching Adhikari closely since the Nandigram days, when there was bloodshed and Adhikari worked to restore calm.

Asked why he chose politics, Dinda said it is the best platform to serve people from within the system, and that honesty and hard work have been his strengths. He said he never made false promises and wants to bring to politics the effort that made him a cricketer. He called the BJP a national, uncorrupt party with a vision. Politics, he said, is harder than sport: on the field you control your own performance, but here you must understand people's feelings and solve their problems while rivals try to stop you. Sport, he added, taught him to handle pressure.

His platform centers on what he calls "Sonar Moyna," or golden Moyna, echoing the BJP's "Sonar Bangla" slogan. Health care comes first. He says local facilities lack infrastructure and equipment, forcing residents to travel to Tamluk or Kolkata for treatment. He also wants better English-medium schools despite the area's high literacy, and plans a school-cum-sports academy. He has dreamed of a school since 2014 and has bought land for it. He also wants to create jobs through new industry for more than 40,000 migrant workers from Moyna. He said he will stay tied to cricket, calling it his bread and butter, and plans academies for cricket and football.

The 294-seat assembly election runs in eight phases from March 27 to April 29, with results due on May 2. Moyna votes on April 1, and whether Ganguly makes any move before then remains an open question.