Former India cricketer and Trinamool Congress MLA Manoj Tiwary has made strong allegations against the outgoing West Bengal government, claiming that he was used politically and given false promises. In a self-made video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, Tiwary said his experience over the last five years in politics was full of “obstacles” and disappointment.
He said he was appointed Minister of State for Sports in the Mamata Banerjee-led government but was never allowed to actually work in the department.
Entry into politics and five years of “obstacles”
In his video, Manoj Tiwary spoke about how he entered politics and why he made that decision. He said he had refused to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. However, in 2021, he decided to step into politics.
According to him, he wanted to use the platform to help people and also make sure that the problems he faced in the sports world were not repeated with others.
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He said, “I had refused to contest the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. However, in 2021, I thought to utilise the platform to help people. Also, I decided to enter politics so that the wrongs that I had faced in the sports field do not get repeated with anyone else.”
Tiwary also said that after joining, he realised that his journey in the government was full of restrictions. He described the past five years as a period where he constantly faced obstacles in trying to work in the sports department.
“Lollipop” post and allegations of no real work
A major part of Tiwary’s allegation focused on his role as Minister of State for Sports. He accused West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas of not allowing him to do any meaningful work.
He said he was given a position, but no responsibility. In his words, “I was just given a lollipop with the post of minister of state. Apart from having tea biscuits, there was no other work in the sports department. It pains me to say this.”
He further said that all his hopes of contributing to sports development in the state were destroyed over time. According to him, he was brought into politics only to be used for appearance purposes, while actual decision-making and work were kept away from him.
Yohan Blake proposal, budget claim, and internal conflict
Tiwary also shared details about a sports project he had tried to bring to West Bengal. He said he had used his personal connections to propose bringing Jamaican sprinter Yohan Blake to launch a Centre of Excellence in the state.
However, he claimed that the proposal was blocked. According to him, when he took the idea to Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, it was not approved.
He said the reason given was the cost, which was around ₹5 crore. Tiwary argued that this decision made no sense because the state had a sports budget of ₹700 crore, which he claimed remained unutilised.
He said, “When I took this proposal to Aroop Biswas, he didn’t allow him to come, just because the total expense was Rs 5 crore. This was despite the fact that we had Rs 700 crore sports budget, which was left unutilised.”
He also expressed concern that athletes from West Bengal were moving to other states due to lack of opportunities. He said this was one of the reasons he wanted such projects to be implemented.
Tiwary added that he even raised the matter with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. However, he claimed that she told him to speak to Aroop Biswas instead.
Complaints to Chief Minister, Messi event remark, and final criticism
The former cricketer also spoke about his interactions with the Chief Minister. He said that his letters to Mamata Banerjee were never answered.
He claimed that even when he personally tried to speak to her after a Cabinet meeting, he was not given time. According to him, the Chief Minister responded by saying, “Don’t I have anything else to do?”
Tiwary said this moment made him realise that he was not being taken seriously. He added that he had only been given around 20 seconds, and that false promises were being made to the public. He said he felt at that time that the government would not last long.
Tiwary also referred to the football event involving Lionel Messi in Kolkata last year, which was widely reported for poor crowd management. He said he had already expected such mismanagement to happen.
And, he further alleged that he was humiliated by Aroop Biswas and was not invited to stage at sports events. He claimed this was because Biswas did not want to be seen alongside him.
Tiwary said that due to repeated insults, he chose not to go onto the field during the Messi event. He added that as a result, fans were not able to properly see Messi during the incident.
In his concluding remarks, Tiwary said that the public reaction against the government showed widespread dissatisfaction. He claimed, “The way people have thrown away this government proves that everyone disliked them.”