450+ stadiums in name of INC leaders! Then why spin chaos on one Narendra Modi Stadium?

Again! Congress has always been looking for ways to defame the ruling party or the Prime Minister in one way or another. It seems like it has become their hobby to criticize the government and then play the victim card. It is clear now that Oppositions give out statements while they are oblivious of the matters they speak. This is after India renamed the world's largest cricket stadium after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, a move that drew immediate praise and criticism together, obviously!

 

 

Narendra Modi Stadium

Yesterday, the Narendra Modi Stadium in the Sardar Vallabhai Patel Sports Enclave in Motera in Ahmedabad, now the world’s largest cricket stadium was inaugurated by President Ram Nath Kovind. The Narendra Modi Stadium surpasses the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in Australia as the world's largest cricket stadium.

 

 

 

The MCG has a maximum seating capacity of 1,00,024 whereas the Narendra Modi stadium boasts a seating capacity of a whopping 1,10,000. It is spread across 63 acres that has a clubhouse with 50 deluxe rooms and five suits including an Olympic-size swimming pool. It is also the second-largest stadium in the world overall, behind Rungrado 1st of May stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea, which has an estimated capacity of nearly 1,15,000.

 

Opposition's pointless accusations-

 

However, a historic moment as such was again defamed as Congress and many other pointed fingers at the government. They did not leave any stones unturned to create controversy out of it which has probably become a part of their daily lives. Congress accused the BJP of insulting the legacy of Sardar Vallabbhai Patel by renaming the stadium. Even Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet, "Beautiful how the truth reveals itself."

 

Apart from him, some leaders of the Congress and other opposition parties also alleged that the renaming exercise amounted to an “insult” to Sardar Patel. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel even said, "It is BJP's tradition. When Atal Ji was alive, Atal Chowk was named after him. He was no more the PM but Atal Chowk was named after him in Chhattisgarh. It is a sign that Modi ji will soon be a former [Prime Minister] like him".

Firstly, the name change involves only the Motera stadium and the entire sports complex continues to be named after Sardar Patel. It should be noted that the gigantic complex not only includes a cricket stadium but also an Olympic-sized swimming pool, an indoor cricket academy, badminton, tennis courts, a squash arena, a table tennis area, football, hockey, basketball, a 3D projector theatre, and clubhouse, etc. Sardar Ji's name has been actually elevated to mark the entire sports enclave that includes various other sporting facilities. Only the cricket stadium has been named after PM Narendra Modi and not the entire sports enclave. After all, the world's largest statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also made under the leadership of PM Modi.

Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju defended the renaming of the refurbished Sardar Patel cricket stadium, saying the sports complex, as a whole, remains in the name of the country’s first home minister. “The name of the whole Sports Complex is Sardar Patel Sports Enclave. Only the name of one Cricket Stadium, within that complex, has been named as #NarendramodiStadium,” Rijiju said.

 

Speaking about Baghel's accusation, there have been instances when sports complexes were named after the leaders during their lifetimes like Indira Gandhi Arena, New Delhi. Apart from this, the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai; and the PCA I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali, are all named after cricket administrators who were the Presidents of their respective cricket associations.

 

Apparently, Rahul Gandhi had also an objection to renaming two pavilions at the new stadium being named after the Adani and the Reliance Groups. The GCA vice-chairman Dhanraj Nathwani said, “Pavilions are named based on sponsorship received. Reliance has sponsored the North Pavilion, while Adani has retained their association with GCA by sponsoring the South pavilion.” Also, the Adani group was already a sponsor of the South Pavilion at the old Motera Cricket Stadium for years. After the stadium was rebuilt, Reliance had bought the right to sponsor the North Pavilion. In the earlier structure, the North Pavilion was known as GMDC Pavilion, as the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation had sponsored it at that time. This outrage be the same if these facts are put forth from him?

Why is it named after PM Modi?

The renaming of the reconstructed stadium at Motera after Narendra Modi comes due to his urge to build the world's largest cricket stadium in India. He was the President of Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) from September 2009 to May 2014 and not from the fact that he is currently the Prime Minister of the country. Modi, as the administration of the GCA, was instrumental in the redevelopment of the entire sports facility.

As Narendra Modi swore as the Prime Minister of the country, he promptly resigned from the post of President of GCA. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was then the GCA vice-president, took over the GCA and successfully built the world’s biggest facility at Motera. At his inaugural address on Wednesday, Shah said, "This stadium was the dream of the prime minister and he had during his stint as chief minister here floated the idea of building the world’s largest stadium".

Cricket Stadium named after politicians

Several Ministers took a dig at Congress after it attacked the renaming of the stadium. Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was present alongside Javadekar at the media briefing after a cabinet meeting, also took a swipe at the Congress leaders, asking whether party chief Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi have so far praised the world’s tallest statue of Sardar Patel erected at Kevadiya in Gujarat. Javadekar said the two Congress leaders have not even visited the statue.

 

"Ironically, “The Parivaar”, which never respected Sardar Patel, even after his death, is now making hue & cry!” he tweeted referring to the criticism by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.

 

 

"In 2007, Smt Sonia Gandhi came to Arunachal Pradesh and changed beautiful Arunachal University as Rajiv Gandhi University, laid the foundation for Rajiv Gandhi Polytechnic, after having Indira Gandhi Park, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Nehru Museum, Jawahar Nehru College, the list is endless…," Rijiju tweeted.

 

Now, Congress should keep in mind that there are several sports complexes, stadiums, named after the Nehru-Gandhi family. Nine stadiums are named after former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Eight of these stadiums — at New Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Indore, Guwahati, Margao, Pune, and Ghaziabad — have hosted domestic and international cricket matches. Three arenas each are named after Indira Gandhi (Guwahati, New Delhi and Vijayawada) and Rajiv Gandhi (Hyderabad, Dehradun, and Kochi).

 

The controversies erupting because few "leaders" are not aware of the facts and dare to give out such useless statements is not rare. However, these "leaders" should not pick up things just to aim anywhere and stoop down even further to run their own agenda. After all, people will not stop believing in such leaders!