'Another Outsider': Trinamool Takes A Dig As Tennis Legend Moves To BJP

Taking a swipe at tennis legend Leander Paes joining the BJP ahead of the high-voltage Assembly election in West Bengal, the Trinamool Congress has said the BJP has found a Goa Chief Minister candidate. Amid the buzz that the BJP may field Paes as a candidate in the upcoming election, the Trinamool has said the BJP has "parachuted" another "bohiragoto" -- meaning outsider -- into the state.

@Leander has officially joined @BJP4India. Congratulations! You've finally found your next Goa Chief Minister candidate. Yet another BOHIRAGOTO parachuted into our state by BJP," Trinamool said in a post on X after Paes, now 53, joined the BJP in Delhi. As the election approaches, the Trinamool has sharpened its "outsider" attack against the BJP and has been trying to paint the main opposition as a party alien to Bengal's social and cultural milieu. 

Born in Kolkata, Paes' family is originally from Goa. His father, Vece Paes, was a field hockey player and part of the Indian team that won the bronze medal at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

Considered one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time, Leander Paes had joined the Trinamool Congress in 2021 and campaigned for the Mamata Banerjee-led party ahead of the 2022 Goa election. He did not contest the polls.

.@Leander has officially joined @BJP4India.

Congratulations! You've finally found your next Goa Chief Minister candidate.

Yet another BOHIRAGOTO parachuted into our state by BJP 🙄 pic.twitter.com/mk0BpW6m1E

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) March 31, 2026

NDTV had spoken to Paes back in 2021, when he was being seen as the face of Trinamool Congress's Goa campaign. Explaining his Goa connection, he had said, "My father Vece Paes hails from the south of Goa. My paternal grandfather was born in Velim and my paternal grandmother in Tollecanto. Tennis has taken me away, traveling for so many years serving the country, across Grand Slams and things, but now that I have come back to live in Goa, I feel like the first step is about gaining knowledge.

"I have spent many days now in Goa trying to understand exactly where difference can be made and I see a huge opportunity. If given the right vehicle, if given the right position to make that difference, I see a huge opportunity in the state of Goa," he had told NDTV. Eventually, Paes did not contest the election. The Trinamool scored a blank in its Goa attempt.

Five years on, the tennis legend joined the BJP today, days after he met party chief Nitin Nabin in Kolkata.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Paes needs no introduction and his entry into the BJP family is historic. "Inspired by the work Prime Minister Modi has done for sports and athletes over the past 12 years, Leander Paes has joined our party as a BJP member," he said.