'Brought international disrepute': BJP shares foreign media reports to slam Bengal govt over Messi event chaos
'Brought international disrepute': BJP shares foreign media reports to slam Bengal govt over Messi event chaos
Taking potshots at the TMC, BJP IT cell head Amil Malviya shared foreign media reports on X and said that the incident is a 'global embarrassment' for West Bengal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday launched a brutal attack on the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal over the chaos at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata during an event which featured football star Lionel Messi and said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has brought 'international disrepute' to the state. The remarks were made by BJP IT cell head Amil Malviya, who shared foreign media reports on X (formerly Twitter) and said that the incident is a 'global embarrassment' for West Bengal.
"From Sandeshkhali to the Messi mess — Mamata Banerjee has brought international disrepute to Bengal," Malviya posted. "What should have been a moment of pride for Kolkata turned into a textbook example of administrative collapse. The Mamata Banerjee government’s mismanagement at Salt Lake Stadium didn’t just derail an event—it projected Bengal as a global embarrassment."
Taking potshots at the TMC, the BJP leader said the incident has 'tarnished' West Bengal's image on the international stage, as the damage was 'not limited' just to the stage. Empty apologies cannot cover up systemic "incompetence and failed governance", Malviya said, adding that the state now needs a 'transparency and leadership' that can deliver.
"A programme meant for the public was quietly converted into a closed, elite affair. Poor coordination, restricted access, and desperate attempts to control the optics resulted in chaos, with the global icon kept away from ordinary citizens despite massive public and private spending," he said, adding that the responsibility for this "fiasco lies squarely with an inefficient administration and its clueless ministers".
https://x.com/amitmalviya/status/2000072443072000193?s=20
Suvendu Adhikari, BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, also shared some foreign media reports on the incident, which he claimed has made Kolkata a 'global laughingstock'. Like Malviya, he also said that apologies and blaming a 'scapegoat' cannot "wash away the gross incompetence" of the TMC government in West Bengal.
"She and her inefficient Ministers, who turned the public event into an exclusive private function with access to only a select few, who swamped the Star and managed to hide him from the public view, but were made to pay huge amounts to fund the event, triggered off the chaos," he said.
https://x.com/SuvenduWB/status/2000045870616907914?s=20
Adhikari has also written a letter to West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and sought an independent judicial inquiry over the incident. In his letter, he claimed that fans were denied basic amenities and dignified viewing due to unchecked VIP presence, obstruction of sightlines, and arbitrary restrictions.
Meanwhile, following the incident at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, the police have arrested the event's main organiser Satadru Datta. Banerjee has also constituted a high-level committee to probe the matter.
