New Delhi: Social media users hit out at Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh over his tweet congratulating India men’s hockey team players for reaching the semifinals.
In a tweet posted Sunday, the Punjab CM wrote: “Stellar performance by the Indian Men’s Hockey team at Tokyo Olympics to beat Great Britain by 3-1 & entering Olympic top 4 after 41 years. Happy to note that all 3 goals were scored by Punjab players Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh & Hardik Singh. Congratulations…go for Gold! (sic).”
Stellar performance by the Indian Men’s Hockey team at #TokyoOlympics to beat Great Britain by 3-1 & entering Olympic top 4 after 41 years. Happy to note that all 3 goals were scored by Punjab players Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh & Hardik Singh. Congratulations…go for Gold! ?? pic.twitter.com/MgQiLFOf8K
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 1, 2021
The tweet invited sharp reactions from Twitter users, including politicians from the BJP and AAP, who accused the CM of playing “divisive politics” and putting the state above the nation.
Sharing Singh’s tweet, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the players were representing India.
Punjab players or Indian players? They are representing India. https://t.co/dWbisbk3WG
— Gaurav Bhatia गौरव भाटिया ?? (@gauravbh) August 2, 2021
Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Delhi, Naresh Balyan, accused the CM of playing “divisive politics”.
Shame on you @capt_amarinder sahab…..had you really served @adgpi ? How could you do divisive politics? The players represent the nation as #TeamIndia but not the states. Never expected from you such a cheap thought. https://t.co/oYTfl9VbNc
— MLA Naresh Balyan (@AAPNareshBalyan) August 2, 2021
BJP National General Secretary C.T. Ravi also took a dig at Singh, calling him a “CONgress Chief Minister”, while BJP MLA Nilkanth Singh Munda said the tweet is an “outcome of the learnings of Congress party which always believes in divide and rule.”
BJP Karnataka’s official Twitter account also criticised Singh, saying it is unfortunate that the Punjab chief minister “invokes the traditional CONgress divisive agenda in Sports”.
It is unfortunate that Punjab chief minister @capt_amarinder invokes the traditional CONgress divisive agenda in Sports.
Captain Saab, will you let Indians know who passed the ball for Punjab players to score the goal?
Is this how you insult our Sports Stars?
Jai Hind ?? https://t.co/1Xg4htqrQM
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) August 2, 2021
Singh not the only CM to congratulate state’s players
Despite the backlash over his post, Amarinder Singh posted another tweet on 2 August, this time congratulating the India women’s hockey team for their historic win over Australia and “Gurjit Kaur from Amritsar” for scoring the lone goal in the match.
Proud of our Women #HockeyTeam for making it to Olympic Semi-Finals by beating three-time Olympic Champions Australia. Kudos to Gurjit Kaur from Amritsar who scored the lone goal of the match. We are on the threshold of history. Best of luck girls, go for the gold. ?? pic.twitter.com/vvk1TLftFR
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) August 2, 2021
However, Singh isn’t the only chief minister to post tweets congratulating a state’s players’ performance in Olympics. Haryana Chief Minister M.L. Khattar had also congratulated the women’s hockey team, adding that he is proud that nine players in the team, including captain Rani Rampal, were from Haryana.
पुरुष हॉकी टीम के बाद अब भारत की बेटियों ने भी #Tokyo2020 के सेमीफाइनल में जगह बना ली है। मुझे गर्व है कि इस विजयी टीम में 9 खिलाड़ी हरियाणा से हैं और इस टीम की कप्तान @imranirampal भी शाहाबाद से हैं। देश-प्रदेश को इन बेटियों से उम्मीद है कि वे पदक जीतकर लौटेंगी।#Cheer4India pic.twitter.com/mySCMjjAWI
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) August 2, 2021
Andhra Pradesh CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy also congratulated “Telugu girl” P.V. Sindhu for winning Bronze at Tokyo Olympics Sunday.