Varanasi, Oct 23 (PTI) The Congress has accused the Uttar Pradesh government of renaming Dr Sampurnanand Sports Stadium here as Varanasi Sports Complex, a charge refuted by the BJP-led dispensation.
In a post on X on Tuesday evening, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai claimed that the invitation letter for an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the stadium on Sunday mentioned the venue as Varanasi Sports Complex and that the government was “lying” that its name had not been changed.
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Stamp and Court Fee Ravindra Jaiswal told PTI that the Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP) are bent on “misleading” the public.
On Monday, SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha had led the party’s protest outside the stadium against the alleged name change.
In a post at 9.39 pm on Tuesday on X, Rai, who had unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls against Modi from Varanasi, shared the invitation letter for the PM’s event on Sunday. According to the invitation, the venue for the event was Varanasi Sports Complex, Sigra.
“Minister of Stamp, Court Fees and Registration Department, how much will you lie to the public? In the invitation letter for the foundation stone laying and inauguration ceremony, the name of Varanasi’s pride Sampurnanand ji is not even there and they are saying that the name has not been changed. Minister ji, you should have had some shame!” Rai said in Hindi.
Hitting back, Jaiswal accused the opposition of doing petty politics.
“The Congress and the SP are so frustrated that they are bent on misleading the masses. No renaming has been done. Varanasi Sports Complex is built inside the Sampurnanand Stadium. Many times, multiple works are done within a project and in this case the Varanasi Sports Complex has been built inside the stadium,” the minister told PTI.
“Name change is done after following the due process. In this case, no proposal was made to rename the stadium. These parties are ‘samaj drohi’ (anti-social),” he said.
Varanasi Mayor Ashok Tiwari also told PTI that Dr Sampurnanand Stadium has not been renamed.
The stadium is named after Sampurnanand, a teacher and Congress leader who served as the second chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. Later, he also served as governor of Rajasthan. PTI KIS COR MAN DIV DIV
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