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Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], November 23 (ANI): Lashing out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for suggesting that the Indian cricket team would have won the World Cup Final Match against Australia had it been played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata or Mumabi's Wankhede, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Agnimitra Paul said that such "petty politics" can only be expected from her and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
"This kind of petty politics can be expected from leaders like Mamata Banerjee or Rahul Gandhi," Paul said while speaking to ANI on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi linked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad to India's loss in the final match, referring to PM as a harbinger of "bad luck". Mamata Banerjee and Rahul Gandhi are part of the opposition INDIA bloc that is expected to take on the Modi juggernaut ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Taking on the Chief Minister for allegedly insulting the efforts of the Indian cricket team, Agnimitra Paul said, "She (Mamata) has insulted the efforts of our Indian team, which has won the last 10 matches consecutively without a single defeat. What about their efforts? Is it only because of the stadium? Is it only because our Honourable Prime Minister was present there?"
Paul also added that Mamata Banerjee would not have dared to comment on where cricket matches are to be held when Sharad Pawar or Madavrao Scindia used to head the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).
"She is probably forgetting that she has been attacking the BCCI. She is forgetting that she was also a part of the same party, Congress. When Sharad Pawar, Madavrao Scindia was the BCCI head she could not say a single word. Now she is talking about the saffron colour, the stadium," the senior BJP leader claimed.
Agnimitra Paul also attacked Mamata Banerjee for allegedly appointing her own family members as heads of various sporting institutions in her state.
"The people of West Bengal are suffering because of you. Don't try to deviate. The sports institutions in West Bengal are headed by the Banerjee family. Your family. What qualifications do they have to lead a sports association?" Paul asked.
Comparing the results of West Bengal in the field of sports with that of the country, she said, "What results have you got for West Bengal in the last 12 years? Look at the results that India is giving us--what Narendra Modi is giving us. Whether it is the Asian Games, the World Cup, wherever."
The West Bengal Chief Minister took a veiled jab at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Indian cricket team's recent World Cup final loss while addressing her party workers at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Thursday.
"Team India would have won had the finals happened in Kolkata (at Eden Gardens) or at Wankhede (in Mumbai). Our players were made to wear gerua (saffron). The players resisted, so India team did not have to wear saffron jersey during matches," Mamata said.
"They (BJP) were making our players wear saffron jerseys. Our players opposed changing their blue jerseys, so they added a touch of saffron to the blue jersey," she added. (ANI)
