Leander Paes crosses over from TMC to BJP in Bengal assembly poll run-up
Times of India | 1 April 2026
KOLKATA: Olympic bronze medalist and multiple doubles Grand Slam winner Leander Paes, who had joined Trinamool Congress in 2021, switched to BJP on Tuesday — less than a month before Bengal goes to the polls.
Paes’s entry, BJP seniors said, is an articulation of the aspirations of Bengal’s urban voters, especially the young generation, and an answer to the oft-repeated charge that the saffron party only espouses “Hindu” causes.
Paes, 52, had met BJP’s national president Nitin Nabin in Kolkata a week back, setting off speculation about him joining the party.
“I have played tennis for the country for four decades. I tried to make my parents, family and nation proud of me. Politics is a new responsibility to me and I wish to serve the youth and countrymen now,” Paes said while addressing the media after joining BJP ?at its headquarters in New Delhi.
“I would like to thank PM Modi for giving me this ?opportunity,” he said.
BJP functionaries hope Paes, a Christian with a Goan background but roots in Kolkata spanning several generations, would help them reach out to non-Hindu communities and gain a foothold among the urban elite and middle class.
“He is a son of Bengal,” junior Union minister Sukanta Majumdar said of the tennis star, who grew up in Kolkata and is the great-great-grandson of poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt on his maternal side.
“This is a milestone moment for BJP in West Bengal. The youth in Bengal have grown up seeing him play. His presence will boost BJP’s image and campaign before the 2026 polls. We will get his help during the polls,” Majumdar said.
According to BJP sources, Paes became close to Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju when he was in charge of the sports ministry from 2019 to 2021. In Oct 2021, he joined Trinamool and campaigned extensively for the party during the Goa assembly polls next year.
Paes was effusive when asked about his long association with Rijiju. “The Khelo India Movement was a game-changer. Kiren Rijiju was the sports minister who guided the movement... India won seven medals at the Tokyo Olympics right after. We have 74.5 crore youth in this country. We need to build a future for them,” he said at Tuesday's media interaction.
“He is a legend in the sports world and his joining BJP marks a historic moment. He is working to inspire and prepare tennis players in the country,” Rijiju said.
Trinamool’s reaction was varied. “No comments. We have more important things to focus on in this election season,” a party senior said. Another functionary said, “The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, will be discussed in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Party MP Saugata Roy will speak against it. Hopefully, Paes will express his views on this since Trinamool and the Christian community oppose the bill strongly. Now that he will campaign, we hope he will open up on the anti-conversion statutes in 13 states.”
While BJP is banking on Paes to strengthen its outreach ahead of the assembly elections, the task may not be too easy. Asked about Paes’s latest political move, Shane Calvert, a former Bengal MLA and a prominent face in Kolkata’s Christian community, said, “Anybody has the democratic right to join any political party they want. But Leander will have some answering to do. To his conscience, to his beliefs, his family, his friends, and his well-wishers. I think the entire community is shocked and sad.”