The Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, closed for renovation in 2015 and reopened on Wednesday as the largest cricket stadium in the world but under a new name — the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The name change appeared to be a secret so well-guarded that a news alert issued by the news agency PTI at 1.18pm said: “President Ram Nath Kovind inaugurates the world’s largest cricket stadium — the revamped Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad.”

Twelve minutes later, at 1.30pm, another alert followed: “Refurbished Sardar Patel stadium in Ahmedabad renamed after PM as Narendra Modi stadium.”

Nor was PTI alone in the dark. The news agency ANI had tweeted a couple of hours earlier: “President Ram Nath Kovind to formally inaugurate Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, where pink-ball Test match between India and England will begin today.”

Modi, who has often mocked the Congress for naming landmarks after members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and ignoring other tall leaders, especially Sardar Patel, becomes the first Prime Minister of India to have a stadium named after him while he is still in office.

President Ram Nath Kovind and Union home minister Amit Shah felicitates Ishant Sharma during the inauguration of the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad. PTI

Like the monogrammed suit moment of 2015, several incongruous elements stood out on Wednesday.

• The sense of incredulity that greeted the name change suggested that even diehard Modi fans were finding it hard to believe — let alone digest — that Sardar Patel’s name could be replaced.
• The relentless headline management and social media spin over the past few years have ensured that perceptions often overshadow everything else. By Wednesday afternoon, social media sites were being carpet-bombed with images that showed the name of the stadium — “the Narendra Modi Stadium” — being sandwiched between two other names — “the Reliance End” and “the Adani End”.

The end names of the stadium are the Adani Pavilion End and the Reliance End. Both Reliance and the Adanis are within their rights to have the ends named after them once they have met the cricket association’s norms.

But when perceptions take precedence, the coincidence stood out and drew comment — especially with thousands of farmers staying put on roads and alleging a nexus between the two corporate groups and the Modi government in pushing the farm laws.

In India is in the middle of an economic crisis and large sections of the population are yet to come to terms with the debilitating blows of the pandemic. Yet, those around the Prime Minister think nothing of emblazoning his name across the gate of a cricket stadium that is being touted the largest in the world.

In Ignominious parallels were also drawn. Many on social media pointed out that there was another leader who had a stadium named after him while in power. The main football stadium of Stuttgart was named Adolf Hitler Kampfbahn in 1933. The name was changed to Century Stadium after the Second World War. Another name doing the rounds was Saddam Hussein’s.

Foreign media also took note. The Times, London, had a report headlined: “Cricket stadium named after master of spin Modi.”

If Modi was taking guard as the former president of the Gujarat Cricket Association (one of the many hats he has worn), there are indeed precedents. The Mumbai stadium was named after S.K. Wankhede when he headed the Bombay Cricket Association while the one in Bangalore took its name from M. Chinnaswamy who was then helming the Mysore Cricket Association. The Mohali stadium is named after I.S. Bindra.

But Narendra Damodardas Modi is not playing as an erstwhile cricket administrator. He is the Prime Minister of India.

Even Modi’s supporters could not believe the news from Motera at first.

“Would have happened if the Gandhis were in power. But now, NO. Sorry dude, try this trick some other time,” said a Twitter user at 12.38pm, responding to a tweet that said the stadium was going to be renamed after Modi. The Twitter bio describes the user as the leader of a wing of the BJP and declares that she is “honoured to be followed by Prime Minister of India”.

The Congress said Modi had taken revenge on Patel, one of the tallest leaders of India’s Independence movement and the country’s first home minister, for banning the RSS after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

“Gujarat had two truly illustrious sons, Patel and Gandhi. Both rejected the RSS philosophy. Patel banned the RSS after the Mahatma’s assassination. Modi took revenge today by removing Patel’s name. In 2017, we saw Modi replaced Gandhi’s photographs from the Khadi calendar with his own even as his contribution to Khadi is nil,” party spokesperson Pawan Khera said.

“We haven’t forgotten that a book viciously attacking Sardar Patel, Tragedy of Partition, authored by RSS leader H.V. Seshadri, used to be distributed free at the Nagpur headquarters. Now they charge Rs 100 for that book,” Khera added.

Conscious of the negative publicity that the erasing of Sardar Patel’s name will trigger in Gujarat and elsewhere, home minister Amit Shah announced the construction of a Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave and the foundation stone was laid by President Kovind. The enclave will include the stadium.

The writing above a gate at Motera reads Sardar Vallabhai Patel Sports Enclave and Narendra Modi Stadium. PTI

Speaking at the inauguration, Shah gave credit to Modi’s vision for bolstering sports in Gujarat and giving the vision of “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. Ahmedabad will be known as “sports city of the country” because the enclave can host any international game, he added.

Shah’s cabinet colleague Ravi Shankar Prasad asked if Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi had ever visited the Statue of Unity in Gujarat, referring to the statue of Sardar Patel unveiled by Modi.

The pro-government ecosystem also churned out statistics listing the number of public places named after the Nehru-Gandhis, without explaining why the BJP is aping the Congress.
Congress leaders were unstoppable.

Hardik Patel, a young leader from Gujarat, asked: “Isn’t this an insult of Sardar Patel? People of Gujarat will not tolerate this. The RSS-BJP relation with Patel is based on hate and they want to wipe out his legacy. The respect shown is superficial.”

Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor tweeted: “Maybe they just realised the stadium was named for a Home Minister who had banned their parent organisation!”

The party’s communications chief, Randeep Surjewala, said: “The BJP has challenged Gujarat’s self-esteem. Modi cannot become bigger by erasing Patel’s legacy. And why didn’t the President of India object? Why did he become party to this misdeed? The country needs answers.”

Rahul tweeted: “Beautiful how the truth reveals itself. Narendra Modi stadium — Adani end, Reliance end. With Jay Shah presiding. Hum Do Hamare Do.” Jay Shah, BCCI secretary, is the son of Amit Shah.

The Congress also mocked Modi, suggesting he had the stadium named after him because he knew no one else would. “Modi knows people will remember you only when you have made some historic contribution. He knows he has done nothing,” Khera said.

While there are many stadiums in India named after Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, the decision was made only after their death.