If you want a ticket then give 5 crores… Team India cricketer’s heart broke, then he left Mamata Didi’s TMC party

Kolkata: “The chapter of Trinamool Congress is completely over for me. I was asked for Rs 5 crore for the ticket.” This is what former Indian cricketer Manoj Tiwari has to say. This time the party had canceled the ticket of Manoj Tiwari, who was MLA from Shibpur seat of Howrah, West Bengal. Manoj Tiwari was the Minister of State for Sports in the Mamata Banerjee-led government.

40-year-old Manoj Tiwari is the highest run scorer (10,195 first-class runs) in the history of Bengal cricket. Tiwari said in an interview to PTI:

I am not surprised at all by this crushing defeat. When the entire party is involved in corruption and there is no development in any area, then this was bound to happen. Only those people who could pay huge amount were able to buy tickets. This time at least 70 to 72 candidates paid around Rs 5 crore to get the ticket. I was also asked for money, but I refused to give it. Just see how many of those who gave money have won the elections.

‘Mamata Banerjee forcefully brought me into politics’
Manoj Tiwari said that he had no intention of entering politics, even though Trinamool had offered him the Lok Sabha ticket in 2019. Ultimately, he contested from Shibpur in the 2021 assembly elections and won. He said, ‘At that time I was playing for Punjab Kings in the IPL and was serious about playing in the Ranji Trophy when Didi (Mamata) wanted me to contest the Lok Sabha elections.’

‘I had become just a puppet’
Tiwari said, ‘I had politely refused, but before the 2021 elections, Didi once again called me and I was asked to contest from Shibpur and I thought that I can bring some meaningful change.’ Tiwari alleged that there is a lack of internal democracy in Trinamool Congress. He said, ‘I have participated in such meetings where all the ministers of Trinamool were called. I was just handed a ‘lollipop’ in the name of the Minister of State, which actually had no meaning. If I would stand up and say, ‘Didi, I want to draw your attention to a particular problem’, she would interrupt us and say, ‘I don’t have time for you people.’

‘I was not allowed to work’
Manoj Tiwari said that the age-old problem of deteriorating sewage and drainage system in Howrah district was never solved despite his repeated efforts. He said, ‘Being a sitting MLA, I kept running everywhere for drainage work in my assembly constituency, but those who controlled Howrah Municipality for years and did not allow elections to be held, never cared about it.’ This former cricketer said, ‘They just kept creating hurdles in the development works even though they were very basic works.

(with inputs from agency)