Didi resorts to soccer to dodge Dada episode

A day after she proclaimed that the game is not over yet as far as Presidential election is concerned, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee resorted to football on Saturday to dodge the high-voltage political drama in New Delhi.

On Friday, the UPA had declared Pranab Mukherjee as its candidate for the race to Raisina Hills, and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s change of stand supporting Mukherjee. Earlier, the Trinamool Congress chief had joined hands with Yadav to propose former President APJ Abdul Kalam as their candidate. When asked about these developments, Banerjee had said, “The game is not over yet. I don't change my stand. Whatever I have to say, I will say on Saturday.”

But on Saturday, she infact changed the game from politics to football and urged a group of Latin American diplomats to increase the football ties between West Bengal and countries like Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Costa Rica.

The Trinamool chief requested the delegation to organise a soccer event in the city before the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. “I told them that we will love to see a football match of the players from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Costa Rica. I also told them that people of West Bengal will love to see their players playing here…they have agreed,” she said. Adding to to this, she said, “We love Mr Pele and Mr Messi.”

After an interaction with diplomats of nine Latin American nations, she said that countries like Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are interested in investing in West Bengal’s tourism, information technology and food processing industries. “They are interested to invest in tourism, IT and food processing industries. We are happy to hear that they will invest in West Bengal,” she said. The chief minister said these countries would organise a food-and-cultural festival in Kolkata in November this year.

After the Mukherjee episode, a politically isolated Banerjee on Saturday chose to take her campaign for APJ Abdul Kalam on Facebook as well as on the streets of Kolkata.