Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Celebrates 'Khela Hobe Diwas' In West Bengal, '1 lakh footballs distributed'

The slogan 'Khelo Hobe' was given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the hotly contested West Bengal Assembly elections.

Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is celebrating 'Khela Hobe Divas' In West Bengal on August 16

New Delhi: 'Khela Hobe Divas' is being celebrated in West Bengal today. The Trinamool Congress government is celebrating 'Khela Hobe' Day in memory of those football fans who were killed in a stampede during a match in 1980. On this occasion, the ruling TMC government is distributing footballs to players at different sports clubs in the state.

The slogan 'Khelo Hobe' was given by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during the hotly contested West Bengal Assembly elections earlier this year. This slogan gained popularity during the polls and was used more than just for poll campaigns. Now Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress is celebrating a day using the same slogan.

In a Twitter post, Trinamool minister Becharam Manna shared a poster that claimed 1 lakh footballs were distributed among students across the state to cebereate "Khela Hobe Dibas". 

Today we are celebrating *"Khela Hobe Dibas"* across WestBengal.#KhelaHobeDibas pic.twitter.com/ny03tGW6ko

— Becharam Manna (@mlabecharam) August 16, 2021

In West Bengal, the main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been strongly objecting to TMC's Khela Hobe Divas. The BJP said the Muslim League had announced to celebrate Direct Action Day on the same day in 1946, which resulted in massive violence.

The BJP also said the TMC wants to bring back that period of injustice and atrocities by choosing August 16 as the 'Khela Hobe Divas'. It alleged that the TMC had unleashed violence against BJP workers since the announcement of assembly election results on May 2, and that TMC wants to promote such violent incidents through 'Khela Hobe Divas'.

In the recently concluded West Bengal assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee's party returned to power with a huge majority while the BJP emerged as the main opposition by becoming second-largest party in the state.