Tennis great Leander Paes formally joined Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 31, 2026, in a move timed ahead of high-stakes state elections in West Bengal. The 53-year-old, born in Kolkata and long based in Goa, made the announcement at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi alongside senior party leaders, and the party shared photographs of the event on its social media channels.
Paes thanked Modi and the BJP ‘family’ for the opportunity, saying he had played for 40 years for his parents and family and that this ‘new game’ was for his country and its youth. Union Minister Kiren Rijju described Paes as a champion who has brought pride to the nation.
A former world-class doubles specialist, Paes has won eight Grand Slam men’s doubles titles and ten Grand Slam mixed doubles crowns. His partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi was widely celebrated and popularly dubbed the ‘Indian Express.’ In 2012 he became the first Asian inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Paes’s switch to the BJP is being widely read as a political setback for West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). He had joined the TMC in 2021 and was once referred to by the party’s leader, Mamata Banerjee, as her ‘younger brother.’ While with the TMC he did not contest elections. West Bengal is one of five states holding legislative assembly elections in April, and the BJP has been working to expand its presence in the state despite not yet winning statewide control. Paes’s entry gives the BJP a high-profile recruit ahead of the campaign and is likely to figure in local political messaging as parties mobilize support.