‘India would have won Word Cup if..’: Mamata Banerjee's dig at BJP

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday joined the ongoing debate over India’s loss in the cricket World Cup final against Australia, claiming the team would have won the World Cup if the final match was played either in Kolkata’s Eden Garden or Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

Read here: Himanta Biswa Sarma’s Indira Gandhi reference to India’s World Cup final loss

While addressing the Trinamool Congress party workers at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, Banerjee alleged that the BJP had attempted to “saffronise” the national cricket team.

“They are trying to paint the entire country saffron. We are proud of our Indian players, and I believe that we would have won the World Cup if the finals had taken place in Kolkata or Wankhede (in Mumbai),” she said.

The Bengal chief minister further claimed that saffron practice jerseys were introduced for team players but the men in blue resisted and didn’t wear those jerseys during the matches.

“They even tried to saffronise the team by introducing saffron practice jerseys. The players resisted, and as a result, they did not have to wear those jerseys during the matches,” Banerjee said.

Dubbing PM Narendra Modi as ‘sinner’, Banerjee said that wherever sinners go, they take along their sins. “The Indian team played so well in the tournament that they won all the matches in the World Cup, except the one attended by the sinners,” she said, without naming anyone.

Read here: On Rahul Gandhi’s ‘panauti’ jab at PM Modi, BJP recalls Indira Gandhi’s ‘insult’ of hockey team

Himanta Sarma’s jibe at Congress:

Earlier on Wednesday, Assam chief minister Himata Biswa Sarma sparked the row saying that India lost the match against Australia because it was played on former prime minister Indira Gandhi’s birth anniversary on November 19. He further requested the BCCI that it should ensure in future that a final match is not organised on a day which coincides with the birthday of a Nehru-Gandhi family member.

Row over Rahul Gandhi’s ‘panauti’ jibe at PM Modi:

A political row broke out after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a dig at PM Modi during an election rally in poll-bound Rajasthan saying “PM means Panauti Modi”, insinuating that prime minister brings bad luck. A Hindi slang, panauti loosely refers to someone who brings bad luck.

However, the BJP denounced Gandhi’s comment as “shameful and disgraceful” and demanded an apology. The saffron party had also filed a complaint against Gandhi with the Election Commission over the remarks.

EC’s action on Gandhi:

Election Commission of India today issued a notice to Rahul Gandhi on his ‘panauti’ and ‘pickpocket’ jibes at PM Modi and has asked him to respond by November 25.

Read here: EC issues show cause notice to Rahul over ‘pickpocket’ jibes at PM Modi

PM Modi, along with union home minister Amit Shah, had attended the final match at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi stadium . Australia defeated India by six wickets to bag the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup on Sunday. India had won 10 successive matches before losing the final match.

(With inputs from agencies)

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