A Messi photo-op turned into political embarrassment for Bengal’s ruling party

Last updated: May 06, 2026 | 15:47

Infuriated fans in West Bengal uprooted seats and hurled them on to the field when they could not catch a glimpse of football icon Lionel Messi in December 2025. IANS

When Argentine superstar Lionel Messi visited Kolkata in India’s football-crazy state of West Bengal for the first time in September 2011, the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) had just come to power after ending the 34-year rule of the Left Front. It was a ‘paribartan’ (change) that was welcomed by the masses and not least by the football fanatics of the state – strictly divided between supporters of Brazil and Argentina and Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo – who got to see the legend in action on the field.

Fast forward to December 2025, when the football icon again visited Kolkata as part of the GOAT Tour.…