The Sena asked what was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution to cricket that a stadium (in Ahmedabad) was named after him.
The Centre’s decision to rename the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award after hockey legend Dhyan Chand was not the people’s wish, but a “political game”, the Shiv Sena said on Monday.
In an editorial of its mouthpiece Saamana, the former ally of the BJP questioned what was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s contribution to cricket that a stadium (in Ahmedabad) was named after him.
On Friday, India’s highest sports honour named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was renamed in the honour of hockey wizard Dhyan Chand, following the admirable performance of both men’s and women’s hockey teams in the Tokyo Olympics.
Prime Minister Modi, while making the announcement, said he had been getting many requests from citizens across India to name the Khel Ratna Award after Major Dhyan Chand.
The editorial in Saamana on Monday said late prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were victims of terror acts, adding that there could be political differences with leaders like them, but their sacrifices towards the country’s development cannot be mocked.
“Changing the name of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award to Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award is not the people’s wish, but a political game,” the editorial said.
“Major Dhyan Chand could have been honoured without insulting Rajiv Gandhi’s sacrifice. But, the country has lost such tradition and culture. It would have made Dhyan Chand sad in heaven,” it added.
Just because the Modi government changed the name of the award does not mean earlier governments had forgotten Dhyan Chand, it said.
It is not a great honour for Dhyan Chand to use his name for the award by replacing it with the name of Rajiv Gandhi, who had made “supreme sacrifice for the country”, the Sena said.
“Removing Rajiv Gandhi’s name (from the award) is political hatred,” the Marathi daily said.
The editorial also said the question raised by some BJP leaders about whether Rajiv Gandhi ever held a hockey stick in his hands was valid.
“People are also asking what Narendra Modi has done for cricket that a stadium in Ahmedabad is named after him by replacing the (earlier) name of Sardar Patel,” it said.
The Sena said that the same yardstick should have be applied while renaming a Delhi stadium (Feroz Shah Kotla) after (late BJP leader) Arun Jaitely. People are also asking these questions.
The ruling party in Maharashtra also claimed that while the Modi government was celebrating India’s wins at the just-concluded Olympic Games, it had cut down the sports budget by ₹ 300 crore.
It stated that when the Sahara Group withdrew sponsorship of the men’s and women’s hockey teams, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik accepted their guardianship.
“Hence, the Odisha government’s contribution is equally important in the (men’s) hockey team’s win (at the Olympics),” it added.
The Sena further asked that when Khashaba Jadhav had won the first individual Olympic medal (bronze) for the country, why no one thought of setting up a ”Khel Ratna” award in his name?
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