The black Toyota Vellfire pulls up in front of the East Bengal club gate in the Maidan area and an elderly person, smartly dressed in a blue suit, gets out of the MUV.
He walks into the swanky premises unnoticed — the five or six people in the vicinity seem more interested in the luxury minivan than in its owner. The person looks unfamiliar in what’s a familiar surrounding for East Bengal fans.
Upon entering the East Bengal tent, as one is greeted by familiar faces and ushered in,
the person flashes a smile. Senior club official Debabrata Sarkar — Nituda to one and all — carries out the introductions: “our president Murari Lal Lohia.”
The blue suit is gone and now wearing the club’s famous red and gold shirt, the man in the hot seat says: “Let’s do the photoshoot first.”
In his 70s, Lohia, the founder of railway wagon manufacturing company Jupiter Wagons, belied his age by climbing up the steep stairs with a spring in his step to oblige the photographer with the ‘best frame’.
About 15 minutes later, back in his spanking clean cabin, the IIT-ian spoke about his love for the club, grandiose plans for East Bengal and how the club could benefit from
his years of management expertise.
Lohia took over as president a couple of months ago from Dr Pronab Dasgupta, who was at the helm for three decades.
“I had come to watch East Bengal play Aryan at this ground and liked the fighting spirit of the players. And this colour, the red and gold. This colour will attract anybody, anywhere in the world. Today’s Spain national team attracts us because of this colour only. I fell in love with East Bengal, with red and gold,” he told The Telegraph.
“At home, people would say, why are you supporting East Bengal? The entire family roots for Mohun Bagan. Look red is in our blood. Red and gold stand out everywhere. Like Kishore Kumar’s voice.”
Plan to go public
The past reminisced, it’s time to delve into the future.
“We should not depend on investors. Why should we have money from anybody? We’ll create our fund. We’ll go public. It’s a serious plan. We want to raise crores. Agencies are doing the groundwork now. Deloitte and KPMG are evaluating the property. It’s a big work, time-consuming. But I am an expert in this. My MBA experience has taught me many things like how to manage an organisation. It may be a sports organisation but man management is the most important thing.”
For the past few years, East Bengal has depended on chief minister Mamata Banerjee to find an investor. In September 2020, Shree Cement came on board which cleared the path for their inclusion in the ISL. Shree Cement left in 2022 and Mamata once again bailed the club out, bringing in Emami.
“East Bengal will not take money from anyone. Not me, not anyone, That’s the idea behind going public,” Lohia said.
Lohia also spoke about his keenness to start a multi-discipline academy, on the lines of the Bengaluru-based GoSports Foundation. Former India captain and coach Rahul Dravid is an ambassador of the foundation.
“I met him (Dravid) in New Delhi recently. I was very impressed with the work his foundation is doing in promoting sports. I want to do something similar. Football, hockey, badminton, volleyball. We need 15 football fields for all age-groups. I want to build a property for East Bengal where everything will be under one roof.”
Promise to fans
While these are all grand plans, East Bengal are in a rut right now. Lack of success — the Super Cup triumph in January was the first since the Federation Cup victory in September 2012 — has bred a sense of negativity among the fans.
“Yes, that is right. Not the fans, even the officials feel down most of the time. There is a lack of energy... Next year I can assure you we will win all the trophies,” Lohia promised.
