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Kolkata: Ahead of the 2026 assembly elections in West Bengal, both the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and its arch rival the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are taking football to reach out to the state’s youngsters. Both the parties launched their own versions of inter-district football tournaments on Thursday.
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“The state youth services and sports department and the Indian Football Association (IFA) have jointly organised a football tournament to mark the 133rd anniversary of Swamiji’s address at the World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. It has been named Swami Vivekananda Cup District Club Football Championship,” said Aroop Biswas, state youth services and sports minister.
The tournament was launched at Belur Math on September 11, 2025. It will continue till March 2026.
Eight teams from each of the 23 districts are participating in this inter-district championship. There will be around 390 matches.
“Our main aim is to make the youths aware of Swami Vivekananda and his teachings and at the same time identify good football players from the districts so that they get a chance to play in the premier leagues and first division football. We would be holding meetings with some of the premier clubs in Kolkata,” Biswas said.
The BJP has named its version – the Narendra Cup. Swami Vivekananda was known as Narendra Nath Datta in his pre-monastic life.
“The tournament was launched on September 11. The final will be held on September 17, which is the birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Around 1,300 teams from across the state have registered for the championship. The matches started from Friday,” said Jyotirmay Singh Mahato, member of Parliament (MP) from Purulia and the BJP’s state general secretary.
While the city of Kolkata has always been known for its obsession for football, it has long been associated with Bengali pride and passion. This assumes significance because TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has already made the Bengali identity and pride as its key poll planks for the crucial assembly elections next year.
According to people familiar with the matter in the BJP, the entire state has been divided into 43 parts and there would be tournaments in every part with one winner in each area. While each winner will get a prize money of ₹50,00, the runners up will receive ₹25,000 each.
“A non-political platform named Narendra Cup Organising Committee has been set up, which is organising this event. I may be a political figure, but this is not a political event. Several former footballers are associated with this,” Mahato added.
Four years ago, in January 2021, just ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, Kolkata witnessed a tug-of-war between the BJP and the TMC with both parties bringing out rallies to showcase their strength on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
The TMC supremo had raised a battle cry “Khela Hobe” in 2021. The Bengali words translate to ‘game on’ and Banerjee repeatedly used the slogan against the BJP. After the TMC government returned to power in 2021 for the third time in a row, Banerjee declared August 16 as Khela Hobe Divas. The state government distributes footballs to sporting clubs across the state.
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