A representative of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has urged sports ministry’s intervention to scrap the sponsorship deal between Chinese mobile firm Oppo and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, which lately started a campaign to push for indigenous production and consumption of Indian goods, also wanted India to reduce its dependence on Chinese exports.
SJM’s national co-convener Ashwani Mahajan wrote a scathing letter which emphasised on repealing Chinese products. “This would not only misguide our youth in blindly going for buying Chinese brands but would also place us in a very awkward position and our campaign is likely to get badly affected by this,” Mahajan said in the letter.
“Cricket is the most popular sport in India and the Indian team is being watched by almost the entire country. Therefore the team should not wear the Chinese firm’s logo,” he added. “Chinese goods have invaded Indian markets which is not only killing our domestic production but also has direct negative impact on employment generation efforts made by the government,” Mahajan added.
In his letter to Sports Minister Vijay Goel, he added, “Money cannot be more important than national pride and welfare of our own citizens and industry and therefore we urge you to interfere in the matter and use your good offices to cancel the agreement entered into between Oppo and BCCI.”
Oppo signed a five-year deal with the BCCI worth a whopping Rs. 1,079 crore. There were also rumours making the rounds over India’s participation at the coveted event.
