Leaders put sports on podium of poll issues; key campaigners focus on athletics infrastructure
Telegraph | 15 April 2026
Achievements by sportspersons in and around Siliguri have prompted prominent politicians to make sports a key issue in their campaigns for the Assembly elections, the first phase of which is scheduled for April 23.
This renewed focus on sports infrastructure has come only after remarkable individual successes—such as Richa Ghosh representing the national cricket team that won the ICC women’s world cup, table tennis player Mantu Ghosh winning the Arjuna Award, and runner Sanjita Oraon, the daughter of a daily wage earner, winning a gold medal at a Khelo India event.
Abundant promises from political leaders are coming in about the development of sports infrastructure in Siliguri and north Bengal.
The latest came from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, during an election rally in Kawakhali on the outskirts of Siliguri on Sunday, announced the establishment of a sports university in north Bengal if the BJP is voted to power in the state.
He expressed his admiration for local talents, mentioning cricketer Richa for her "long sixes" and paddler Mantu, two-time national champion and the region’s first Arjuna award recipient.
Earlier, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had made similar commitments.
During an official visit to Siliguri on November 10 last year — before the election schedule was announced — she had announced that the state would build a cricket stadium on a 27-acre plot on the outskirts of the city, which would be named after Richa.
In its election manifesto, Trinamool has said it would develop the Kanchenjunga Stadium in Siliguri into a global-level football arena.
These announcements have raised a recurring question: why do such initiatives surface primarily during election periods?
Highlighting ground realities, Sujoy Ghosh Roy, a coach of athlete Sanjita, described the lack of proper training infrastructure.
Sanjita has been practising on a vacant club ground in Naxalbari, where a makeshift 250-metre track has been arranged.
During the monsoon, she is forced to train on uneven tea garden roads.
Despite these challenges, she recently won a gold medal at the inaugural Khelo India Tribal Games 2026 held in Chhattisgarh.
“Sanjita is a long-distance runner, and her 10,000-metre timing at national meets is consistently under 40 minutes. Access to a synthetic track would have significantly improved not only her performance but also that of many athletes across the region. Unfortunately, such facilities are still lacking,” Roy said.
Left leader Asok Bhattacharya, former Siliguri MLA and former minister, criticised the politicisation of sports achievements.
“Sportspersons gain attention only when their success can be leveraged for political purposes. Why do the chief minister’s announcement of a cricket stadium in Richa Ghosh’s name and the PM’s promise of a sports university come only before elections? The answer is obvious,” he said.
As of now, the Trinamool-run Siliguri Municipal Corporation is carrying out the renovation work of the Kanchenjunga Stadium with an allocation of ₹9 crore.
However, the stadium — once considered the best football venue in Bengal after the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta — has fallen into disrepair and has not hosted any major football event for over six years.
“We are undertaking the stadium’s redevelopment in phases, as it is a massive project. The proposed cricket stadium will also be constructed on the city’s outskirts, where 27 acres have been identified,” said mayor Gautam Deb and the Trinamool candidate for Siliguri Assembly seat.
BJP leaders have also referred to sports while training guns at Trinamool.
“Bengal is known for its football… but what we saw in Calcutta was shameful," Modi had said in Balurghat on Saturday, referring to the mismanagement at the Salt Lake Stadium during Lionel Messi’s visit. "The entire world saw what happened because some TMC leaders and ministers have even handed over football to syndicates.”
Nitin Nabin, the national BJP president, accused Trinamool of turning clubs, which used to be centres for sports activities, into hubs where “plans are hatched to capture booths during elections". “We will ensure that the culture of sports is back in the state. This government has not done anything to develop players,” Nabin said.