West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today announced that former iconic cricketer Sourav Ganguly will host a new business reality show on television, aimed at nurturing young entrepreneurial talent.
"Yet another first from Bengal is about to unfold very soon. I am happy to inform you that Bengal is launching an exclusive business reality show in Bengali 'Egiya Bangla'.
"The show will target young entrepreneurs, with unique business ideas and help them to achieve their dreams. Our very own Sourav Ganguly has come forward to be the face of the show," Banerjee said.
"Like his passion on and off the field, Sourav will ignite young minds to be successful entrepreneurs of tomorrow. My best wishes," she said in a Facebook post.
However, the chief minister's venture drew criticism from Opposition parties like the Left, Congress and BJP, who mocked her for pinning hopes on a TV show instead of building infrastructure to attract in investments.
"I am not aware of whether such shows really help. Earlier, the Chief Minister conducted various business summits, but they produced no result. She also visited Mumbai, Singapore and London, but the visits did not help bring in a single investment. Rather, several industrial units have shut shop," Left Front chairman and CPI(M) Politburo member Biman Bose said.
The Congress said such kind of shows would not attract investment as long as there was no proper infrastructure and environment.
"Such shows will not help bring in investments. For investments, you need infrastructure and proper environment. The TMC and our Chief Minister are trying to use the brand value of Sourav Ganguly to befool the masses and the youth. The state has miserably failed in industrialisation and job creation," state Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said.
The BJP also mocked Banerjee's earlier business summits and said until and unless proper environment and industrial policy was in place, no effort will yield results.
