Suvendu Adhikari slams WB govt over 'low' cash award for sportspersons

Taking a dig at the TMC government in Bengal, Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday claimed that the state was found wanting when it came to honouring Olympic medal recipients.

Taking to Twitter, the BJP MLA from Nandigram wished luck to the Indian team of 119 athletes leaving for Tokyo Olympics, three of them being residents of the state.

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Launching a tirade against the state government, Adhikari, who had crossed over to the BJP from the TMC before the assembly polls, said, "Unfortunately, the WB Govt as usual drags its feet in such cause."

Referring to the hugely popular 'Khela Hobe' (game will be played) catchphrase of the TMC, widely used during assembly poll campaigns, Adhikari further wrote, "Those who have misemployed the word #khela generously & thinking about making a memorial day out of it, are the ones who seem to have allocated the lowest cash award for Olympic medal winning athletes of the state."

Adhikari was referring to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent announcement that her government will observe a 'Khela Hobe Divas' this year to promote sports.

He attached a chart with the tweet, which claimed that West Bengal provided Rs 25 lakh to the Olympics medal winners -- the lowest among all states.

Reacting to Adhikari's comments, TMC spokesman Kunal Ghosh told PTI that the state provides help and support to all talented sportspersons.

"Let Suvendu Adhikari spell out the names of the sportspersons he had recommended when he was a part of the state cabinet around this time last year. Also, I would like to know if he has posted any tweet on the spiralling price of petroleum products," Ghosh, also the state general secretary of the TMC, added.