Kamal Ghorui
Former India cricketer and outgoing Trinamool Congress MLA Manoj Tiwary on Tuesday said his association with the party has ended. He alleged that he was denied a ticket from Howrah’s Shibpur constituency because he refused to pay Rs 5 crore.The 40-year-old, who is Bengal’s highest run-scorer in first-class cricket with 10,195 runs, served as minister of state for sports in the Mamata Banerjee-led government. The government completed its 15-year term before the BJP won the latest assembly elections on Monday.“Look, I am not at all surprised by this debacle. This was bound to happen when an entire party has indulged in corrupt practices and there was no development in any sector,” Tiwary was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.“Only those who could pay hefty money could buy tickets. At least 70-72 candidates this time paid around Rs five crore to get a ticket. I was asked but I refused to pay. Just check how many of those who paid up have managed to win,” he said.“As far as TMC is concerned, that chapter is over (for me),” he added, as quoted by PTI.Tiwary said he had not planned to enter politics earlier, even when he was offered a Lok Sabha ticket by the party in 2019. He later agreed to contest and won from Shibpur in the 2021 assembly elections.“At that time, I had played for Punjab Kings in the IPL and was still playing Ranji Trophy seriously when Didi (Mamata) wanted me to contest Lok Sabha.”“I had politely declined but before the 2021 elections, Didi once again called and told me ‘Manoj, I have a message for you and Aroop will tell you’. I was asked to contest from Shibpur and I thought that I could make a meaningful change,” Tiwary said.Tiwary also alleged that there is no internal democracy in the TMC.“I have attended meetings where all TMC ministers were summoned. Now I was given a Lollypop called MoS which basically meant nothing. If I stood up and said ‘Didi I want to draw your attention to a certain problem’, she would just stop us midway and say ‘I don’t have time for you people’.”He said he tried to address drainage and sewage issues in Howrah but did not get support.“Being a sitting MLA, I would run from pillar to post for drainage work in my constituency but people who controlled Howrah Municipality for years without allowing elections to happen, never cared.“They would simply stall developmental work which is very basic. I can tell you that some of the work that I got done was not just from MLA fund but also I paid from my own pocket to complete projects.“Every year Didi would announce a Master Plan for upgradation of underground drainage system but that was it, just lip service.”On allegations of extortionTiwary denied allegations that he was involved in extortion.“Let me tell you that when I filed my income affidavit before the 2021 elections, I had declared that I had Rs 20 crore in cash. I have played IPL for 10 years, first-class cricket for 20 years, was part of Indian squads for good number of years.“I don’t need extortion money. There were 7-8 local councillors who would regularly write to Didi. False allegations were levelled against me,” he said.On Aroop BiswasTiwary said he was not allowed to perform his duties properly by state sports minister Aroop Biswas.“Aroop Da doesn’t know A,B, C, D of any sport. There would be functions where both Aroop da and I would be invited and I would not be called on the dais. There was one Durand Cup unveiling where my pictures were flashed in sports pages and from next Durand Cup, I wouldn’t get any invite,” he said.He also referred to the Lionel Messi event in Kolkata, saying he chose not to attend.“I knew something like this would happen and refrained from attending the event. I didn’t want to be part of an event where common people were taken for a ride. I would repeatedly ask Aroop da, ‘Dada please introduce a sports policy as per allocated budget’. He never bothered,” he added.
