Mamata Banerjee's brother hopes for better luck

Didi's brother is in town. Not many at the football stadium recognized Ajit Banerjee, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's elder brother, who was here to follow the fortunes of the family run club Kalighat MS.
Asked about Didi's influence on the club, Ajit, the eldest of eight children of Promileswar Banerjee, said "she likes sports". "She supports lot of clubs but I'm not getting any financial help from her.Also, being her elder brother it is not fair on my part to trouble her as she already has enough (running the government)," a said a smiling Ajit, who is working as the president of the club since 2000.
Banerjee hoped Kalighat, who missed promotion by two points last season, will make it this time. "We have trained well under the guidance of coach Arun Ghosh and this year we are confident. Our first match against Hindustan FC will be crucial," he said.
A former club level player, who took charge as the secretary of the club back in 1980, Banerjee said getting a ground to train is becoming increasingly difficult in Kolkata.
"We have a great problem in finding a ground to train but some allow us to train. We trained in Kalyani before coming here," he said. Kalighat, founded in 1944, entered the 5th division in Kolkata in 1966 but turned professional only last year.
Asked about the sponsors interest in football, Banerjee said he was hoping for a turnaround if India gets to host the U-17 World Cup. "We do a lot of work to train youngsters through our football finishing schools and it is not easy to find funds. Hopefully the sponsors will show more interest if we host the U-17 World Cup," he said.
The club has also found two new sponsors and talks are on to sign them as the team's shirt sponsors.