Season for the major state elections in India is on. West Bengal BJP is getting ready for Modi’s Brigade rally in Kolkata on March 7. The saffron party is expecting to see a gathering of around 10 lakh people. It has also cleared the air about Mithun Chakraborty & Sourav Ganguly attending the meeting. Speculations are doing the rounds ahead of the mega event. In BJP’s clarification, however, there is no dismissal.

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Two names that have been doing the rounds are Mithun Chakraborty, who was a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP till 2016, and that of Indian cricket board president Sourav Ganguly. The speculations are two-fold, that they are likely to attend Modi’s election event and also likey to join the BJP.

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On Mithun Chakraborty, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya said that he is welcome to attend the event. But it will be an event of only PM and the public. Vijayvargiya said, “We will welcome those coming in public, including Mithun Chakraborty.”

“If he joins, it will be good for both the party and the state. And if he shares the stage with PM Modi, then people of Bengal will be happy,” West Bengal BJP vice president Arjun Singh said. On whether there has been any discussion regarding this among the party workers, he said, “I am not the authorized person.”

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Speculations around Mithun were triggered when the actor hosted RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at his Mumbai home recently. But dismissing any political angle in it, Mithun said that he had a “spiritual relationship” with Mohan Bhagwat.

“I have a spiritual relationship with him. It is a very deep spiritual relation. There was a plan that he would come to my home when he visits Mumbai. It so happened that I returned to Mumbai from Lucknow after a shoot and he too was in Mumbai. So ‘jud gaye hum (we connected)’,” he had told reporters.

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Speculation of Ganguly joining the BJP has been going around for quite some time. West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said that he had no idea about this and this was not discussed in the meeting of the core committee either. While the veteran cricketer and the current president of the BCCI has never spoken a word regarding the same, it has been rumoured (mostly unsubstantiated) that he will be contesting the elections for the nation’s ruling party in the upcoming state elections of West Bengal.

The popularity of Sourav Ganguly and his influence on the people belonging to his home state is unknown to none. Thus, it is speculated that BJP is trying its best to include the BCCI office-bearer in their party. The rumours of Ganguly joining BJP had started after he along with the son of Amit Shah, Jay Shah, had taken the responsibility as the President and Secretary of the Indian cricket board respectively.

But an important question is that; Will Ganguly be present at Modi’s Brigade rally? BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya said that Sourav Ganguly is most welcome, if he decides to attend the programme; his health permitting.

“We know Sourav is under rest at home. If he considers attending the meeting, health and weather conditions permitting, he will be most welcome. If he is present, we think he will like it. The crowd will also like that. But we do not know. It is for him to decide,” Bhattacharya said.

But Sourav Ganguly had clarified that everyone is not meant for everything and that he will not venture into politics. One of the friends of  Ganguly, CPM leader-Asok Bhattacharya had stated that Ganguly had told him that he would not join politics.