Leander Paes came to meet PM Modi as soon as he joined BJP, is a big game going to happen in Bengal?

New Delhi: Olympic medalist and the country’s famous tennis player Leander Paes has taken a new step in politics and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Just a day after joining the party, he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This meeting took place on Wednesday, while Paes had joined BJP on Tuesday.

Journey from sports to politics

Leander Paes is a legend in the tennis world. He has brought glory to India on the world stage and made the country proud by winning medals in the Olympics. Politics is not new to him. In the year 2021, he was associated with Trinamool Congress, but now he has chosen to support BJP.

On Tuesday, Paes was given membership of the party in the presence of Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju and Sukant Majumdar at the BJP headquarters in Delhi. On this occasion he said that this is a big day in his life. Paes thanked Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and senior BJP leader Nitin Naveen.

He further said, “BJP has given me an opportunity to serve sports, sports education and youth, for which I am really grateful.” Paes believes that development of sports facilities is necessary to strengthen the youth power of the country.

Prime Minister Modi’s post

After the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on social media platform

Had a great meeting with Shri Leander Paes Ji. India is very proud of his achievements in tennis. We discussed a wide range of issues. His passion towards sports and nation building is truly admirable.@Leander pic.twitter.com/NPiw0OuIcH

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 1, 2026

In this meeting, both the leaders talked about topics like sports development, youth empowerment and nation building. Paes said that he has joined the party inspired by the vision of Prime Minister Modi.

Important steps before Bengal elections

This incident happened just before the West Bengal Assembly elections. Paes was born in Kolkata, hence his joining BJP has become a topic of discussion in the state politics. He said that Bengal can do better and wants to work in the sports sector for the future of the youth.