Amid the World Cup match between India and England at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday, a political ‘match’ played out away from the floodlights, as major parties in the State competed with each other to take credit for the stadium.
The ‘game’ began when Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said the arena became a reality during the government led by him. “The SP built a world-class cricket stadium in Lucknow... where the World Cup match is being held today. We hope the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh also makes world-class traffic arrangements for this, so that players and spectators do not face any inconvenience,” said Mr. Yadav. Targeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Mr. Yadav said he had “taken credit for someone else’s work” but the public knows “who actually did the construction, whose symbol is the the bicycle”.
Incidentally, the stadium was initially named Ekana International Cricket Stadium, before Mr. Adityanath rechristened it. Before the match started, a two-kilometre-long traffic jam was witnessed on the road leading to the venue, with many people questioning the traffic arrangements for the high-profile match.
