EC rejects TMC plea, says Ganguly don't have 'politics'

Kolkata, Apr 1: Rejecting Trinamool Congress' demand to snub Sourav Ganguly from Election Commission's publicity campaigns ahead of 2011 Assembly polls, the office of Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal said that former Indian cricket captain can be appointed as the brand ambassador for the EC.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mar 30, Mamata Banerjee's TMC filed a complaint to chief electoral officer Sunil Kumar Gupta alleging that Ganguly was a CPM supporter and was close to urban development and municipal affairs minister Ashok Bhattacharya. TMC also submitted a CD that reportedly contains video footages of Sourav participating in CPM rallies.

Later, Ganguly denied the allegations and said that he was not connected with any political party. Dada also reported his stance to the EC.

The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that Ganguly had denied the allegations and cleared his stance saying that whatever he did was done as a cricketer for the further cause of the game in the country.

"We have sent the Trinamool"s complaint and all the evidence along with our views to the Election Commission of India for a final decision on the issue. We have examined the issue and ascertained there was no such evidence. The video CD too was examined and we did not find any evidence of participation of Ganguly in any political campaign," The press release issued by the CEO said.

OneIndia News