Mumbai, Jun 26 (PTI) Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Friday accused the ruling BJP of being “hellbent on crushing sports” in Mumbai, claiming the city’s civic body has converted a football ground in suburban Bandra into a convention centre.
Thackeray, in a post on X, alleged that the Mumbai Football Association (MFA) is being barred from using Neville D’Souza Football Ground in Bandra West to clear the way for a commercial concrete structure.
He said that the ground has hosted thousands of players and multiple tournaments for the last nine years.
“The BJP regime in the @mybmc, backed by orders from the BJP state government, has just converted the Neville D’souza football ground in Bandra West into a convention centre reservation,” the former minister wrote.
A contractor will get his money, a builder will get location benefits, and the convention centre will get a BJP leader’s name, he said.
Thackeray, who is the president of the MFA, also blamed the BJP for such policies.
“If you are wondering about why India isn’t playing the @FIFAWorldCup, despite the population crossing 1.4 billion people, and why countries with much smaller populations than our smallest cities are playing, stop wondering…” he said in his post.
Thackeray noted that Bandra West and the Reclamation area, which already sees heavy vehicular movement, will see more traffic after the convention centre is built.
BJP contractors and builders will smile with glee even as children lose their playground and Bandra adds another block of traffic, he said.
“As the Mumbai Football Association, of course, we will now have to pay to use other grounds, but the government is hellbent on crushing sports in Mumbai, as recreation grounds are converted arbitrarily into build up concrete spaces that have controlled and ticketed access,” he said.
The Sena (UBT) MLA pointed out that his protest earlier had saved two recreation grounds in Mumbai, but the BJP wants this plot merely to name it after one of its leaders as a convention centre.
“We also saved the city’s municipal blood banks from privatisation, but this ground was their focus,” he said. PTI PR ARU
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