Former India cricketer and former Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Manoj Tiwary has accused West Bengal’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) of blocking efforts to boost the state’s sports infrastructure, saying a plan to bring Jamaican sprint star Yohan Blake to Bengal was “thrown away” by the state sports ministry. In a video posted to his Facebook account on May 6, 2026, Tiwary said he was prevented from doing meaningful work during his 2021–2025 tenure and pointed the finger at state sports minister Aroop Biswas while saying even chief minister Mamata Banerjee did not intervene on the proposal.
Tiwary charged that his MoS role felt like a “lollypop” and that “apart from having chai and biscuits, there was no work in the ministry.” He said Biswas blocked his initiatives out of personal insecurity over Tiwary’s popularity. The former minister added he had hoped to build infrastructure for athletes across disciplines but was systematically stymied.
One of Tiwary’s biggest disappointments, he said, was the rejection of a plan to bring Olympic medallist Yohan Blake to join a Centre of Excellence hub in Bengal. Tiwary said the visit would have cost about Rs 5 crore — a small portion of the state’s roughly Rs 700 crore sports budget — and that the proposal was initially approved before being stopped. “It was rejected. I was completely heartbroken,” he said, adding that when he took the matter to Mamata Banerjee she directed him back to Biswas.
Tiwary also warned that athletes are leaving Bengal for better opportunities elsewhere, citing gaps in prize money and support compared with other states. The 40-year-old ex-batter, who has scored more than 10,000 first-class runs, has repeatedly framed his political entry as driven by a desire to improve sports conditions for youth.
These claims follow an earlier interview with PTI in which Tiwary alleged he was asked to pay Rs 5 crore for an MLA ticket and criticised the party for poor development and alleged corruption. The statements come after the recent Assembly elections in which Mamata Banerjee’s TMC lost power to the BJP. The report did not include immediate responses from Aroop Biswas, Mamata Banerjee or TMC representatives.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/firstcricket/manoj-tiwary-yohan-blake-proposal-rejected-tmc-corruption-mamata-banerjee-14008285.html
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Publish Date: 2026-05-06 19:35:00
