No reservations: Bengal athletes endure 37-hour train ordeal for National Games

Kolkata: A stark contrast in Bengal’s sporting landscape has come to light within a month, exposing the glaring disparity in support for athletes from the state.

Just a month ago, after Bengal clinched its 33rd Santosh Trophy title following an eight-year hiatus, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lavished praise on the team, announcing cash rewards and government jobs for the players. The victory was widely celebrated, with the state’s cabinet ministers chanting the Joy Bangla (Hail Bengal) slogan.

However, as the state’s athletes prepared to represent Bengal at the National Games – India’s premier multi-sport event – the administration’s apathy towards its sporting talent became glaringly evident.

37-hour ordeal

At the 2025 National Games, which began this week in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, Bengal’s men’s and women’s Kho Kho teams endured a gruelling 37-hour journey without reserved seats, forced to sleep on the train floor.

The 36-member contingent, comprising 30 players and six officials, embarked on their journey on January 25 from Howrah station, with their events starting only three days later, only to find that their reservations had not been secured.

Images of players crammed into the train’s sleeper compartment have since gone viral on social media, drawing widespread criticism from the netizens.

This is not an isolated incident though. Earlier, Bengal’s women’s football and swimming teams also faced similar hardships. In the football squad, only five of the 15 members had reserved seats, leaving the rest to endure an exhausting journey. The players, unhappy with the situation, expressed their grievances to coach Dola Mukherjee.

Despite the ordeal, the Bengal men’s Kho Kho team confirmed a bronze medal on Thursday by reaching the semi-finals. However, the women’s team suffered a defeat to Karnataka in its opening match. The situation has raised serious concerns over administrative lapses and a lack of planning.

Allegations and counter-allegations

It has brought to the fore the ongoing feud and miscommunication within Bengal’s sports administration, with Kalyan Chattopadhyay, secretary of the West Bengal Kho Kho Association, making a serious allegation against Bengal Olympic Association (BOA) general secretary Jahar Das.

“Several teams from Bengal travelled to the National Games without confirmed seats," said Chattopadhyay to The Bridge. "This is not an amateur event; it is organised by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), and state athletes participate under the banner of the Bengal Olympic Association.

"We support them just like other state associations. We purchased tickets and submitted the budget and travel details to BOA soon after the IOA's notification in December. Since then, we repeatedly sought confirmation from Jahar Das but received no response," he alleged.

“We assumed that BOA would handle it, but in the end, it failed to do so. And the day before departure, we dropped our tickets into the VIP drop box between 9-10 PM. In the end, only six tickets were confirmed,” Kalyan added.

Refuting the allegations, Jahar told this correspondent, “The responsibility of purchasing tickets for athletes and support staff lies with the respective associations. If they request our help, we write to the Railways seeking emergency reservations, and the Railways do their best to accommodate us. However, due to the Kumbh Mela, there was additional pressure on the system this time. Despite that, they still managed to secure several second AC tickets for our athletes."

Jahar claimed that the BOA never received any requests from the Kho Kho Association and accused them of lying.

"We never received any tickets or requests from the Kho Kho Association. They are spreading false claims. They did not approach us after buying tickets, which left us with no opportunity to assist them," Jahar alleged.

"On the same train, three teams travelled - football players had no issues, and today, archery players travelled without problems," he said.

"I personally arranged reservations for them. The 49-member gymnastics team will travel on Saturday, and thanks to our request, the Railways have provided RAC tickets. For teams that requested assistance, we wrote letters and secured RAC tickets in AC classes,” Jahar claimed further.

The incident has sparked outrage among sports enthusiasts and raised questions about Bengal’s commitment to its athletes, especially at a time when India has emerged victorious in both the men's and women's categories at the inaugural Kho Kho World Cup earlier this month.