BENGALURU :
The chaotic scenes at the Chinnaswamy stadium last week for tickets to
Sunday's India-England World Cup tie is turning out to be a major issue
for Karnataka legislators.
The assembly would discuss the matter
Thursday and decide whether to set up a committee to probe the mess,
which some members called a 'scam'.
Thousands of people
had queued up Thursday at the stadium and police staged a baton charge
to keep the milling crowds under control. Only around 7,000 tickets were
sold at the counters for a stadium with a capacity of around 50,000.
Several legislators were angry that they were not treated fairly in
ticket distribution. A number of tickets had been set apart for the
legislators, who had to collect it from the speaker's office.
S.R. Vishwanath, a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, claimed
that only 5,000 tickets were meant for the public and of this only
1,000 were sold to them. 'The rest went in the black market,' he
charged.
He held the Karnataka State Cricket
Association management responsible for the mess. The KSCA is now headed
by former India captain and leg spinner Anil Kumble. Former paceman
Javagal Srinath is the secretary.
Srinath has
apologized to the fans for the baton charge and also for inability of
the KSCA to provide tickets to all of them because of commitments to
KSCA members, other state cricket associations, International Cricket
Council, Board of Control for Cricket in India, sponsors and the like.
Two Congress members N. L. Narendra Babu and N. Sampangi and Vishwanath
raised the issue of baton charge on the fans though 'calling attention
motion' and insisted that only a house panel (committee of legislators)
would bring out the true picture.
They were supported by several other ruling and opposition members.
The members sought a house committee to find out how tickets sales were managed and whether they were sold in black market.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister S. Suresh Kumar told the
legislators that the house could discuss the issue Thursday and then
decide whether to set up a panel.
Speaker K. G. Bopaiah announced that a decision on forming a panel would be taken 'after discussion on March 3'.
The Chinnaswamy stadium, in the heart of the city, is built on land leased by the government.
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