The Bengal BJP has sharpened its attack on Sourav Ganguly but without naming him this time, claiming that “he takes the land and does nothing”.

Suvendu Adhikari, BJP legislator and leader of the Opposition, picked up the thread on Sunday from state party chief Sukanta Majumdar who had questioned Ganguly’s choice of the venue after he praised Bengal’s investment climate in Spain and announced his plans to invest in a steel plant in West Midnapore.

“One who lives in Behala has to go to Spain to announce that he would invest in Salboni (in West Midnapore)… a reign of insanity is underway here (in Bengal),” Adhikari told journalists, referring to the place where Ganguly’s family house is located in Calcutta.

“He is in the habit of taking land in the name of investment... he has been doing so since the erstwhile Left regime. He takes the land and does nothing,” Adhikari added.

Once billed as a potential chief minister candidate for the BJP in Bengal, Ganguly had hosted Union home minister Amit Shah even till the summer of 2022. Until Ganguly was hospitalised with cardiac issues before the 2021 Assembly polls, rumours were rife that he might join the BJP to take on Mamata.

But of late, there has been speculation that all’s not well between the BJP and Ganguly although the former cricketer has studiously stayed off the political pitch.

On Sunday, some BJP leaders said that the attacks on Ganguly would not help
the party win hearts in Bengal.

“The party has no specific policy to attack or criticise Sourav Ganguly’s activities in Spain as we all know that he is a public figure in Bengal. The leaders have been commenting in their own capacity,” said a senior BJP leader in Calcutta.

Ganguly is in Spain as part of a Bengal delegation led by Mamata to scout for investments and court football league La Liga. At a business summit in Madrid, he announced his investment plan in Salboni.

“Bengal’s people will give them (the BJP) a befitting reply for belittling our Dada,” Trinamul spokesperson Tanmoy Ghosh said.