Home Minister G Parameshwara and other dignitaries at a programme to unveil the name of the indoor sports complex in Tumakuru on Tuesday.
Credit: DH Photo
Tumakuru: An indoor sports complex in the Mahatma Gandhi Stadium in Tumakuru has been named after Home Minister G Parameshwara despite the BJP registering strong opposition to it.
The Home Minister, who unveiled a plaque saying 'G Parameshwara Indoor Sports Complex' at a programme on Tuesday evening, said he had not asked anyone to rename the Mahatma Gandhi Stadium after him.
At a press conference earlier in the day, BJP leaders had opposed the move and warned that they would launch a struggle if the stadium's name was not reinstated.
G B Jyothi Ganesh, MLA, said, "The Congress had protested claiming that Mahatma Gandhi's name was removed from the MGNREGA. A special session of the legislature is being planned to discuss this in the State. The people who opposed removing Mahatma Gandhi's name from the scheme have removed his name and named the indoor stadium after Parameshwara."
He said, "A State-level Olympics is set to begin in the city in a couple of days. Was it necessary to rename the stadium at such a time?"
"Parameshwara has been cordial with people of all parties. Everyone is co-operating with him. When such is the situation, it is not right to rename the stadium after him. Instead of this, the international playground to be constructed near Sorekunte can be named after him," Ganesh said.
BJP district vice president Y H Hucchaiah said Tumakuru city has been facing many problems and is in a dire need of development works. It is better if Parameshwara concentrates on these works instead of renaming important buildings and roads, he said.
On Monday, BJP workers had taken out a protest in front of the stadium and blocked the road. They tried to enter the sports complex, but the police stopped them.
BJP leader T H Hanumantaraju had said the stadium was developed at a cost of Rs 50 crore under the Smart City Project, and Jyothi Ganesh had strived for developing it. He alleged that Parameshwara was trying to take credit for the work done by someone else.
'Sports should not be mixed with politics'
Clarifying on the issue during the programme on Tuesday, Parameshwara said, "The BJP has protested against naming the indoor stadium after me. I will not criticise or comment on this... Naming it after me will not make much difference to the stadium. This issue should not be looked at from the political angle. Sports should not be mixed with politics.
"Last September, some sportspersons collected signatures and submitted a letter to the district administration demanding that the indoor stadium be renamed after me. This had not come to my notice. The district administration had forwarded this request to the State government, and it got approved. The approval letter is yet to come."
The Home Minister said, "As a sportsperson, I have worked for the district. This renaming was done to honour me. I respect it. In other States and at the national level, stadiums have been named after people who are not related to sports. The stadium was not named after me by removing Mahatma Gandhi's name. We ourselves are protesting against the BJP for removing Gandhi's name [from the new rural guarantee scheme] . Can we remove Gandhi's name in such a situation?"