West Bengal Chief Minster Mamata Banerjee on Monday lauched ‘Khela Hobe‘ programme at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata. A video of the CM dribbling a football during launch was shared by

She said, ” Believe it or not, “Khela Hobe” has become very popular. The slogan was raised in Parliament too, soon it’ll be popular across India.”

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During the event, the State Sports and You Affairs Department distributed one lakh “joyee” (victorious) footballs to various Clubs.

Banerjee had earlier to observe August 16 as ‘Khela Hobe Diwas‘ in memory of the 16 people, who lost their lives in a stampede during 1980 match at the iconic Eden Gardens.

From Khela Hobe to Khela Shesh: What is the meaning of Khela?

‘Khela Hobe’ was the election war cry used by the ruling-Trinamool Congress to assert that the ‘game is on’ during the April-May West Bengal Assembly polls. The slogan was raised during addresses at election rallies and several Trinamool Congress leaders were also seen dancing to its tunes.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came up with their own slogan — ‘khela sesh’ (‘the game is over’) but ‘khela hobe’ become widely popular, capturing the close contest between TMC and BJP.

According to the Indian Express, the slogan was first raised a few years ago by Bangladesh’s Awami League MP Shamim Osman. However, in West Bengal, it was popularised by the Trinamool Congress president of Birbhum district, Anubrata Mondal. It, however, isn’t known if Mondal knew about the first use of the slogan by Osman. Khela means ‘a game’ in Bengali. Khela Hobe is a Bengali phrase that means the ‘game is on’.