Government of West Bengal. reduces the security cover of Sourav Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, had the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government raise the security cover to Z category comprising at least nine to 10 policemen in 2023. | Photo credit: PTI

The newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state government in West Bengal on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) downgraded the security cover for former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly from Z to Y.

The development was confirmed by officials of the West Bengal Police’s security wing as part of an “ongoing routine exercise” to review the security cover of various prominent personalities in the state based on their threat assessment.

Mr. Ganguly, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, was upgraded in 2023 by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government to a Z-category security cover comprising at least nine to 10 policemen. However, under the new Y category arrangement, Mr. Ganguly is expected to have only three to four security personnel at his disposal.

Considered close to the TMC, Mr Ganguly was appointed as the Cricket Association of Bengal president in 2015 and continues to hold the position after being retained in 2019 and 2025.

He was also elected as the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2019, but retired from the post in 2022. The BJP leadership tried to convince him to join the party. Mr. Ganguly has never commented on the subject and has repeatedly ruled out speculation that he might join any party.

A section of Trinamool leaders saw the move as a result of Mr. Ganguly allegedly rejecting the state BJP’s efforts to formally join the Central BJP units.

Since the BJP came to power, the security cover of several prominent Trinamool leaders, including the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and former ministers Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Aroop Biswas and Kalyan Banerjee, has been reduced.

Published – 03 Jun 2026 22:01 IST