West Bengal govt. downgrades Sourav Ganguly’s security cover

The newly formed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) State government in West Bengal on Wednesday (June 3, 2026) reduced the security cover for Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian cricket team, from the Z- category to the Y-category. 

The development was confirmed by officials of the West Bengal Police security wing as part of an “ongoing routine exercise” in reviewing the security cover of various prominent personalities in the State based on their threat assessments. 

Mr. Ganguly, a former president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, had his security cover elevated to the Z-category comprising at least nine-10 police personnel by the previous Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in 2023. However, under the new Y-category arrangement, Mr. Ganguly is expected to be provided with only three to four security personnel. 

Mr. Ganguly, considered close to the TMC, was made president of the Cricket Association of Bengal in 2015, a position he continues to hold, after being retained in 2019 and 2025. 

He was also elected as president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 2019 but quit the post in 2022. The BJP leadership tried to persuaded him to join the party. Mr. Ganguly has never commented on the subject, and has repeatedly ruled out speculation that he may join any party. 

A section of Trinamool leaders viewed the move as a result of Mr. Ganguly’s rumoured rejection of the State BJP’s efforts that he formally join the Central BJP force.

Since the BJP came to power, security cover for several prominent Trinamool leaders, including the party’s national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, and former Ministers Shobhandeb Chattopadhyay, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Aroop Biswas, and Kalyan Banerjee has been downgraded.