Mehtab Hossain, Former Footballer, Quits Politics A Day After Joining BJP, Party Says 'TMC Threatened Him'

Mehtab Hossain, who is popular as the "Midfield General" in the Kolkata Maidan, apologised to his well-wishers for this decision to quit politics

PIC/@anupam_mallik (Twitter)

Kolkata: Former Indian footballer Mehtab Hossain  surprised many after he decided to quit politics a day after joining Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal.   Making a volte-face, Hossain, who is popular as the "Midfield General" in the Kolkata Maidan, on Wednesday disassociated himself with any political outfit. Also Read: ‘Several Bollywood Personalities Have Verifiable Links To ISI & Pak Army,’ Says BJP Leader; Asks Celebs To Renounce Such Connections The veteran footballer has said quitting politics was a personal decision because he was affected by the pain and feelings of his family and well-wishers because of the decision to join a political party. On Tuesday, the former East Bengal captain joined the ruling party after he was handed the BJP flag by the party's state president Dilip Ghosh at its Muralidhar Sen Lane office. Hossain who joined the party amid chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" said in a Facebook post, "I am not associated with any political party from today. I apologise to all my well-wishers for this decision of mine." “But the people for whom I wanted to serve as a politician said I should not have joined politics. They did not want to see me as a politician,” he said, as per the report in the news agency PTI.

"No one has forced me to take this decision. This is completely my personal decision to stay away from politics," he added. Hossain, who has played 30 matches for India and scored two goals joined politics in his attempt to reach out to more people. Amid his resignation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alleged that Hossain’s left politics because of  “threats and intimidation” from the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal. “This is the result of the TMC’s threat-and-intimidation politics. We have seen such things before as well. But more the TMC indulges in such tricks, more it would lose public support,” BJP secretary general Sayantan Basu said. State vice president of the saffron party Jaiprakash Majumdar said such instances point towards the “lawless situation” in West Bengal.