Mumbai: No sooner did President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated "Narendra Modi Stadium" in Motera, Gujarat, the story of "Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart)" started flooding WhatsApp, Twitter and other social media platforms.
Why?
Social media users were reminded of the 1933 Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) after the government decided to rename the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Gujarat after Narendra Modi.
Netizens digged into the history to find out that Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) built in 1933 by German architect Paul Bonatz.
After It was built, it was named "Adolf-Hitler-Kampfbahn" (pronounced [ˌadɔlfˈhɪtlɐˌkampfbaːn]). From 1945 to 1949 it was called "Century Stadium" and later "Kampfbahn" and was used by US Troops to play baseball.
The name Neckarstadion was used since 1949. It is home to VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga (and to the Stuttgarter Kickers when they played in the Bundesliga).
Netizens drew the parallel between Mercedes-Benz Arena (Stuttgart) which was named after Hitler with the renaming of Sradar Patel Stadium as Narendra Modi Stadium.
Adding fuel to the fire, the two ends have been named as "Adani End" and "Reliance End". This prompted the crtitics to recall Rahul Gandhi's catch phrase "hum do ... hamare do.. ki sarkar".
This is not the first time when Modi is compared with Hitler and his government as Nazi regime. Only last week, story of Sophie Scholl (1921-43) resurfaced after climate activist Disha Ravi's arrest in toolkit case.
Netizens said the way Sophie was arrested and later hanged by Nazi regime merely because distributing anti-government pamphlets, the same way Modi government is haunting Disha Ravi and other activists for their stand against the anti-people policies of Narendra Modi government.
Interestingly, Narendra Modi and BJP are using the name of Sardar Patel every now and then, and moan that he was not given the respect he deserved and his contributions to the nation was never recognised.
Opposition Congress and social media users snatched this opportunity to expose the hypocrisy of Narendra Modi and BJP.
Commenting on the renaming of the staudim, former Congress President and MP Rahul Gandhi said:
"Beautiful... how the truth reveals itself. Narendra Modi stadium.. Adani end.... Reliance end with Jay Shah presiding. #HumDoHumareDo."
Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill on the other hand tweeted:
"Is Mahatma Gandhi Ji's photo on the currency note staying or being replaced? #AskingforaFriend who is an ardent follower of Sardar Patel Ji".
Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said:
"Advaniji must be regretting why he hasn't named something. But Modiji is wise and know that after the government goes nobody will name anything after him so he renamed Sardar Patel Stadium on his name."
A social media user meanwhile shared a clip from Sanjay Dutt's blockbuster to make the moment more memorable.
Any resemblance to Modi ji is purely coincidental. #MoteraCricketStadium #नरेंद्र_मोदी_स्टेडियम pic.twitter.com/9Yxhrtr5RW— Deepak Kumar (@iamdeepakkmr_) February 24, 2021
Any resemblance to Modi ji is purely coincidental. #MoteraCricketStadium #नरेंद्र_मोदी_स्टेडियम pic.twitter.com/9Yxhrtr5RW
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