Mamata takes a tour of Santiago Stadium in Madrid
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday paid a visit to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, a football stadium in the Spanish capital Madrid, and went around it to get to know its infrastructure.
She was accompanied by former BCCI president and ex-cricketer Sourav Ganguly, state Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, and a few officials of the West Bengal government who were on an administrative trip to Spain to seek investment in West Bengal.
"Bengal has in its blood football, cricket, and other sports. We have a bigger stadium, Salt Lake Stadium. Even Eden Gardens has a bigger capacity than this stadium. We have come here to see their infrastructure and how they are doing business with football. This is a good idea. I am hopeful to use this idea in the future," she said.
Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, which is considered to be the home to Real Madrid Football Club, is the second-largest seating capacity in Spain.
On her social media page, Banerjee later described her visit to the stadium as an "unforgettable day!"
"Today, I visited the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, home to the Real Madrid Football Club. Santiago Bernabeu, steeped in history and memories of legendary moments, embodies the dreams and spirit of sports enthusiasts worldwide. West Bengal has always been committed to promoting sports, nurturing young talents, and fostering a culture of athleticism. Let this visit remind us that sports unites us all, strengthens ties, and promotes cultural exchange," she said.
On Thursday, the Spanish football league La Liga signed an agreement with the West Bengal government to set up an academy in the state for nurturing young talents.
Talking about that MoU, she said, "The football academy will surely come up. After returning to Kolkata I will hold a meeting with the chief secretary and identify the land to build the football academy."
The MoU was signed during a closed-door meeting between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and La Liga president Javier Tebas in Madrid.
Banerjee, who is on a 12-day trip to Spain, met Tebas in Madrid on Thursday evening and held a closed-door meeting, which focussed on strengthening relations through linking sports and cultural institutions.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
