Punjab CM At The Centre Of An Olympic Storm

There is a political storm brewing around the Olympics 2024, not in Paris but in Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has raised a storm over the central government not allowing the Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to go to the French capital to cheer for the Indian hockey team.

The hockey team plays its quarter finals match on Sunday, after scoring a brilliant win against Australia, the first time since 1972 in the Olympics and that too on the artificial synthetic turf.

In its golden years the Indian players, along with the Pakistani neighbours, were magicians with the hockey sticks on grass, before Hockey became a largely power game with the introduction of artificial surfaces.

After he was denied permission by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to leave for Paris, Bhagwant Mann took to the social media posting a video where he is on a telephone call with the Indian Hockey Captain Harmanpreet Singh.

He tweeted, “Talked to hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh on phone today and cheered him up… We wanted to come to Paris to watch the next competition and boost the morale of the players but the central government did not allow us… We are with you wholeheartedly… All the best for the next competition...”

In the video he is seen giving some Hockey tips to the team leader, pointing out that too many gaps were being left for the Australians to explore during the previous match. Mann asked Harmanpreet Singh to bring back a medal and promised to meet and receive the team when it comes back from Paris. Mann has a point to make as 10 of the 11 players are from Punjab.

Meanwhile, the AAP came out strongly attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it raised questions around the central government not allowing Mann to go to Paris. Senior AAP leader and spokesperson Neel Garg said that the BJP is doing politics in the name of security. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want any Opposition leader of India to reach an international platform,” the AAP statement read.

Garg said that Bhagwant Mann wanted to go to Paris to encourage hockey players in the ongoing Olympic Games but the BJP government at the Centre deliberately did not allow him to go citing security reasons which was absolutely wrong.

He said that last year Delhi Chief Minister and the AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal was also stopped from going to Singapore in a similar way. So was AAP’s leader and Delhi government minister Gopal Rai.

Garg added that now there is news that Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan is also not being allowed to go to America to attend a political program. He said that this shows the ‘narrow mentality’ of the BJP.

Garg said that apart from the 10 players in the team hailing from Punjab, both the captain and the vice-captain are from the state. “That is why the Chief Minister of Punjab wants to go there,” he added while attributing to the BJP mentality the departure of more than seven and a half lakh people leaving Indian citizenship in the last five years.

The AAP’s state general secretary and chairman of Punjab Mandi Board Harchand Singh Barsat while condemning the denial of permission to Bhagwant Singh Mann said that by not allowing Punjab CM Mann to visit Paris Olympics, the Central government has not only insulted the three crore people of Punjab but also hurt their sentiments. “This is equivalent to putting a stop to the fundamental rights of a constitutionally elected person,” he said.

He added that the denial of permission to Bhagwant Mann to boost the morale of the hockey team is ‘another example of discrimination against Punjab’.

Former Indian Hockey Captain who had led the Indian team in Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics Pargat Singh told this reporter, “They could have let the Chief Minister go and cheer for the Indian team. Where is the harm?”

But Pargat Singh who is now a Congress legislator from Jalandhar Cantonment has also raised a pertinent point accusing the Centre of discrimination when it comes to allocating funds for the sports to various states.

He took to the social media stating, “Despite sending 48 athletes to the Paris Olympics, Punjab and Haryana received Rs 78 crore and Rs 66 crore respectively, while Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, sending only nine athletes got Rs 438 crore and Rs 426 crore.

“Is this not a biased distribution? How long will BJP continue this discrimination against states?” He also shared a complete chart of fund allocation to the states for sporting activities.

The issue was also raised in Parliament by Deepender Hooda, the newly elected Lok Sabha member from Rohtak. He said in a tweet,”In the Khelo India budget, Haryana was given only 3% ( Rs 65 crores) and Gujarat got more than Rs 500 crores. While 21% of the players in the Olympics are from Haryana. In the last 4 Olympics, Asian and Commonwealth Games, 40% to 50% of the medals for the country were won by players from Haryana.

“Like the budget, the central government forgot Haryana in the sports budget too. What is the government taking revenge for by discriminating against Haryana?”

Putting things in perspective Pargat Singh told The Citizen,” The Centre thinks that Punjab has better infrastructure whereas this is not the case. This is why it is being neglected.

“Right now the biggest problem being faced by Punjab, particularly the youth, is that of drugs. Sports can play a major role in tackling this menace if the youth are motivated to take to sporting activities. Ultimately a solution has to be found. Punjab has done very well in sports even in the past.”

Elaborating on the issue, he said, “Most of the players playing in the team right now are from the 2005 batch (were born). Players are not created overnight. It is a long drawn out process.”

It needs to be pointed out that Pargat Singh as director sports played a major role in boosting the sporting activities in the state and is still doing his bit for the same in various capacities.

Meanwhile, politics has followed Bhagwant Mann on this issue as well. Senior Congress leader and leader of opposition in the state assembly Partap Singh Bajwa came up with a tongue in cheek comment on the denial of permission to the Punjab Chief Minister.

Bajwa said in a tweet, “The BJP-led Union Government's refusal to permit Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann to support the Indian Hockey team at the Paris Olympics is disheartening.

“This decision, following Mann's previous mishaps—missing his flight in Germany and the fictitious BMW plant claim—raises serious questions. Is the Union Government fearful of potential international blunders or merely obstructing a Chief Minister's right to back Team India?

“Such a shameful display of adversarial politics! Our founding fathers envisioned collaboration between state and union governments for the welfare of the people, not this counterproductive antagonism. Political opponents should act as partners in public service, not as enemies.”