- Aroop Biswas offered resignation over chaos during Messi's Kolkata stadium visit
- His resignation letter contained multiple Bengali spelling errors, drawing criticism
- Fans at a Kolkata stadium were upset as Messi was surrounded by VIPs, limiting public access
West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas' resignation letter to Mamata Banerjee, in which he offered to quit over the chaos during Lionel Messi's visit to a Kolkata stadium, has gone viral for spelling errors. The BJP has latched on to the opportunity and said a sitting minister cannot even write Bengali properly.
"A Sitting Minister in the Mamata Government cannot even write proper Bengali. After destroying Bengali pride, culture, and language, you decide to resign with such a letter," the Bengal BJP unit said on X. "First, learn basic Bengali spellings! You couldn't even spell the name of your department correctly! We recommend Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's Borno Porichoy and Rabindranath Tagore's Sahaj Path to begin with," the post added. Borno Porichoy and Sahaj Path are widely used textbooks for elementary education.
Aroop Biswas has made headlines in the aftermath of the Messi event fiasco. Football supporters from across Bengal had spent thousands on tickets to the Salt Lake stadium event to catch a glimpse of the football legend. But during the 30-minute appearance, Messi was surrounded by VIPs such as ministers and sports administrators. This upset the fans who went on the rampage as soon as Messi left the ground.
Many of these angry fans slammed Aroop Biswas and accused him of clinging to Messi and getting his family members to click pictures with the football legend, while fans who had paid thousands struggled to get a glimpse of him. Some also said that they went to the event to see Messi, but only saw Aroop Biswas.
Biswas has offered to resign, but his resignation letter has brought further trouble. A close confidante of Chief Minister and Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee, he has made at least four spelling howlers in his letter. The worst among them is that he spelled Kridamantri (meaning Sports Minister) wrong. Social media users have pointed out that the minister cannot even spell his portfolio correctly.
Biswas also holds the portfolios of Power and Non-Conventional Energy and Housing. According to sources, his resignation has not been accepted, but he will not function as the sports minister for now, as a probe is underway. For the time being, Mamata Banerjee has taken charge of the sports portfolio. Suvendu Adhikari, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, said Biswas's resignation is a "hogwash" to divert attention.
Senior BJP leader Amit Malviya said the resignation is "nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger". "This is NOT 'Raj Dharma'. This is an open confession that the Messi event collapse was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, born out of the poor governance of Mamata Banerjee, her ministers, and the bureaucracy. This incident is the outcome of loot of common people, so synonymous with TMC, shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on, deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Mamata," he said.
"The resignation exposes a collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet. No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata. This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," Malviya added.
The events during the Messi event in Kolkata, often called the Mecca of Indian football, have left the state government red-faced, despite it being a private event. Chief Minister Banerjee said she was "deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement". "I was on my way to the stadium to attend the event along with thousands of sports lovers and fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of their favourite footballer, Lionel Messi. I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident."
