Even as Lionel Messi landed in Dhaka, it was failure of the Teesta accord, which dominated newspapers and the audio visual channels. Some local Bengali papers went on to describe the West Bengal chief minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, as a “drama queen.”
Debates raged across the television channel on the failure of Teesta deal as the Opposition parties tore into the Shekih Hasina government.
Though it was being viewed by a section as Ms Banerjee getting her way, there was a deep sense of disappointment in Bengaldesh.
“Teesta to dilen na (you didn’t give us Tessta),” was a general feeling among the media and a cross section of people in Dhaka. Some went on to the extent of saying that “Teesta failure dampens Messi spirit.”
In the late evening briefing, the Indian side, however, admitted that the Teesta remained the stumbling block in the sealing the river water sharing agreements. However, the historic visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did made its impact as India did manage to sign 10 MoUs, agreements and protocols. Trade bodies in Dhaka were also upbeat over the visit. However, traffic in the city was thrown of out gear with both the visit of Dr Singh and Messi coinciding.