The refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera near Ahmedabad was on Wednesday renamed as the Narendra Modi Stadium. Popularly known as the Motera Stadium, it was recently re-opened after extensive renovation work with an increased seating capacity of 1,10,000. It is currently hosting its first Test match with India taking on England in a day-night match.
The stadium's new name was announced in an inauguration ceremony that was attended by President Ram Nath Kovind, Home Minister Amit Shah, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah among others.
The practice of naming stadiums after politicians is not new. In India, there are stadiums named after the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi. Meanwhile, what caught everyone's attention was that the two ends of the ground were named after Adani and Reliance.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi continued his "hum do humare do" attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
"Beautiful how the truth reveals itself.
Narendra Modi stadium
- Adani end
- Reliance end
With Jay Shah presiding.
#HumDoHumareDo," he tweeted.
Earlier, Gandhi had said that the country is today run by just four people. "Years ago there was a family planning slogan — hum do, hamare do (we two and ours two), but just like COVID-19 has returned in another form, this slogan too has made a comeback. Today, four people run the country — hum do, hamare do," Gandhi said.
While the Wayanad MP did not name anyone, saying “everyone knows the names”, Congress’ other members on the benches in the Parliament behind him stood up and shouted Ambani-Adani.
His remarks came amid the farmers' protest against the Centre's contentious three farm laws. Many have alleged that the new farm laws are likely to benefit the two tycoons.
