The refurbished Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, was renamed the Narendra Modi stadium on Wednesday, sparking chortles on social media.
President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurated the world’s largest cricket stadium ahead of the third Test between India and England in the presence of Home Minister Amit Shah and Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju.
Cricket: World’s largest stadium in Motera renamed as Narendra Modi Stadium
“We have decided to name it after the country’s prime minister,” said Shah after the inauguration. “It was Modi ji’s dream project.”
Said Kovind said in his address: “This stadium was conceptualised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he was Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was president of the Gujarat Cricket Association at that time,”
The president also performed the ground-breaking ceremony for a sports complex in the stadium, to be named Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel sports enclave, for disciplines such as football, hockey, basketball, kabbadi, boxing, and lawn tennis among others.
Here is a sample of the reactions on Twitter.
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