Football has always been one of the most popular and purest forms of combat in Bengal. In a state rocked by political strife and social upheavals, the world of soccer in the state, which rewards toil and sweat, and represents true devotion and discipline to a cause, is far removed from the murky labyrinth of politics here.
If politics in the state is filthy, football is downright earthy and basic and it is because of this attribute of the game here that the most strategically powerful ruling regime of the state, the Trinamul Congress, has taken upon itself the task of binding the chasm between soccer and politics with aplomb in a bid to garner mileage in these trying times for the party from the most favorite game of the people, which provides an immense opportunity for mass contact and is completely free of caste or religion and controls the young people, who form a significant portion of the electorate in the state.
With the objective of cashing in on the love for football in Bengal, the TMC decided to celebrate this year in a more politically beneficial manner the Football Lovers’ Day on August 16, the day on which 16 football fans had died due to a stampede and riot inside the Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata 42 years ago. It decided to celebrate the day as the “Khela Hobe Divas” across Bengal and party leaders observed it by organizing football matches in every nook and corner of the state.
The party, which is looking to increase its national footprint, also made elaborate plans to observe the day in various parts of the country, including Tripura, where it has set its eyes on the 2023 assembly polls. The Government of West Bengal also lined up various programs at various stadiums in the state to distribute footballs to various clubs.
The events which were aimed at promoting sports and as a mark of respect to those who died on the day turned out to be an outright success and the Khela Hobe Twitter handle emerged as the number one trending handle in the country.
The vice-president of the Khela Habe state committee, Subrata Biswas, told this correspondent today that the handle had been trending at the top in India since the Khela Hobe Divas was celebrated and they hoped that it would contribute most significantly to a convincing win of the party at the upcoming panchayat elections in the state.
“Khela Hobe (will play) was the battle cry of our party during the assembly polls in April-May last year, and it was largely because of this slogan that our party could defeat the BJP to storm back to power for the third successive time in the state.
Our top trending Khel Hobe handle emphatically proves that the people of our state are still with us and the arrests of Partha Chatterjee and Anubrata Mandal will not affect our party’s prospects in the panchayat polls.
We want judgment in the Chatterjee and Mandal cases is not delayed until the panchayat elections and the opposition parties do not get a chance to convert a non-issue into an issue. We want the law to take its own course and to bring out the truth. It will silence those who are out to tarnish the image of our party and our party supremo Mamata Banerjee,” he said.
Only time will tell if the twitter handle of Khela Hobe works wonders for the party. The BJP’s plans to voice its opposition to the Khela Hobe Divas did not make much impact. The saffron brigade observed the day as the Paschimbongo Bachao Divas, claiming that the Muslim League had launched its Direct Action Day and began the Great Calcutta Killings in 1946 on August 16.
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