All political parties in West Bengal are gearing up for next year’s assembly elections. Both the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are using football matches as a means of political campaigning. The TMC is organizing the Swami Vivekananda Cup, while the BJP is launching the Narendra Cup. These events are scheduled to begin in September. The Narendra Cup will be inaugurated on September 11th, the same day as the TMC’s tournament. The BJP’s initiative is linked to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday, celebrated on September 17th. The Narendra Cup is planned to start at the district level.
Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato, a BJP leader and MP from Purulia, is the convener of the committee for the competition. He stated during a press conference that this is the first time such a tournament is being organized. A total of 43 football tournaments will be held, involving 1300 football teams. The winning team will receive 50,000 rupees. The runners-up will be awarded 25,000 rupees and semi-finalists will receive 15,000 rupees. The theme song for the tournament was also released on the same day.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya clarified that the Narendra Cup is named after Swami Vivekananda and not Narendra Modi. The aim of the tournament is to unite the youth who are devoted to the nation, similar to Vivekananda’s message to the youth. Meanwhile, the TMC’s Swami Vivekananda Cup has already been announced, with the Department of Sports and Youth Welfare organizing the competition. The ruling TMC is commemorating the 133rd anniversary of Swami Vivekananda’s Chicago address through this tournament. Sports Minister Arup Biswas stated that 23 districts in the state will participate, with each district fielding 8 teams. The competition will begin at the district level, and the top two teams will compete at the inter-district level. This tournament will continue until March 2026, with a total of 390 matches. These sports events create a separate contest before the political confrontations.
TMC leader Kunal Ghosh commented that the Narendra Cup is named after PM Narendra Modi and questioned why the BJP is using the name Narendra Cup instead of Vivekananda Cup. TMC has chosen the Swami Vivekananda Cup to respect their legacy and accused the BJP of attempting to undermine it. A debate is going on in the state about Bengali identity. A TMC student leader, AB Soyal, burned a poster of Rabindranath Tagore with BJP leaders two days ago, which led to controversy. Subsequently, Abhishek Banerjee suspended the demonstrator and disbanded the TMC unit of Malda’s Chanchol College. Afterwards, the BJP, under the leadership of Suvendu Adhikari, staged protests. Reacting to the Rabindranath Tagore incident, TMC displayed a photo featuring Union Education Minister Sukanta Majumdar on stage with images of Tagore and Vivekananda at his feet. TMC asked why the blame is placed on TMC when a Union Minister has insulted Tagore and Vivekananda? Now, both parties are trying to improve their image by praising Swami Vivekananda. BJP, led by state president Samik Bhattacharya, has started the Narendra Cup, while TMC has initiated the Swami Vivekananda Cup.
