JAIPUR: A war of words has apparently broken out between the Rajasthan government and the Indian Premier League (IPL) with claims and counter-claims coming up every now and then. Couple of days after reports of Jaipur being dropped from the list of venues where IPL matches are to be held as per the revised schedule, state home minister Shanti Dhariwal hit out at IPL chief Lalit Modi on Thursday.
Accusing him of "acting against the state" as he lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association election recently, the minister claimed, "Modi pulled IPL matches out of Jaipur on his own. He never discussed it with us. The people of Rajasthan will never forgive him for this. In an election, one party wins and the other loses, like in matches. But that doesn't mean you leave the state and walk away with matches."
Modi, however, sought to clarify that the state government had asked the Centre for six companies of para-military forces for the security arrangements during the matches but the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed its inability to provide the same. And this is precisely the reason behind Jaipur being dropped from the list, Modi claimed.
Further clarifying IPL's stand, its CEO Sundar Raman said, "It would be unfair to call it a deliberate effort on the part of IPL for changes in the schedule. To set the record straight Jaipur was one of the first venues in showing interest in hosting IPL and the initial schedule that IPL had submitted to MHA had five matches to be held in Jaipur. The state government had, however, a rider -- requirement of Central forces. The MHA had made it clear that no Central forces will be available. The schedule has since undergone multiple changes and we are operating with constraints."
Refuting it, however, Dhariwal claimed that the state government had all the intentions of hosting the matches and was waiting for the IPL management to come with a revised set of dates when "the MHA asked the organizers to discuss the matter with us".
"We wanted only two out of six dates rescheduled, we couldn't have hosted matches between May 4-10," Dhariwal said and added, "They (IPL organizers) are just making excuses. If they were willing to host the matches, they should have shown interest and come forward to discuss the matter with us."
Asked if the government would have assured security without the six companies of para-military forces it had asked for, Dhariwal said, "This issue of our being able to provide security would arise only after we knew what the revised dates were. We would have decided accordingly."
On this, Modi said, "I had a word with S N Thanvi (state home secretary) regarding it." Reacting to the minister's statement, he said, "I have no idea where he (Dhariwal) is coming in the picture."
Countering Modi's reply the home minister said that a two-minute call to the home secretary wasn't enough to discuss a matter that involves hosting such a mega event. "We haven't even received a small note in writing from them," he said adding that even the franchisees after an initial meeting didn't approach them for hosting talks regarding the matches whereas "the chief minister too assured them of all support".
Speaking to the media in New Delhi, chief minister Ashok Gehlot too maintained that hosting IPL matches wasn't an issue with the state government and that the dates could have been rescheduled.
Accusing him of "acting against the state" as he lost the Rajasthan Cricket Association election recently, the minister claimed, "Modi pulled IPL matches out of Jaipur on his own. He never discussed it with us. The people of Rajasthan will never forgive him for this. In an election, one party wins and the other loses, like in matches. But that doesn't mean you leave the state and walk away with matches."
Modi, however, sought to clarify that the state government had asked the Centre for six companies of para-military forces for the security arrangements during the matches but the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) expressed its inability to provide the same. And this is precisely the reason behind Jaipur being dropped from the list, Modi claimed.
Further clarifying IPL's stand, its CEO Sundar Raman said, "It would be unfair to call it a deliberate effort on the part of IPL for changes in the schedule. To set the record straight Jaipur was one of the first venues in showing interest in hosting IPL and the initial schedule that IPL had submitted to MHA had five matches to be held in Jaipur. The state government had, however, a rider -- requirement of Central forces. The MHA had made it clear that no Central forces will be available. The schedule has since undergone multiple changes and we are operating with constraints."
Refuting it, however, Dhariwal claimed that the state government had all the intentions of hosting the matches and was waiting for the IPL management to come with a revised set of dates when "the MHA asked the organizers to discuss the matter with us".
"We wanted only two out of six dates rescheduled, we couldn't have hosted matches between May 4-10," Dhariwal said and added, "They (IPL organizers) are just making excuses. If they were willing to host the matches, they should have shown interest and come forward to discuss the matter with us."
Asked if the government would have assured security without the six companies of para-military forces it had asked for, Dhariwal said, "This issue of our being able to provide security would arise only after we knew what the revised dates were. We would have decided accordingly."
On this, Modi said, "I had a word with S N Thanvi (state home secretary) regarding it." Reacting to the minister's statement, he said, "I have no idea where he (Dhariwal) is coming in the picture."
Countering Modi's reply the home minister said that a two-minute call to the home secretary wasn't enough to discuss a matter that involves hosting such a mega event. "We haven't even received a small note in writing from them," he said adding that even the franchisees after an initial meeting didn't approach them for hosting talks regarding the matches whereas "the chief minister too assured them of all support".
Speaking to the media in New Delhi, chief minister Ashok Gehlot too maintained that hosting IPL matches wasn't an issue with the state government and that the dates could have been rescheduled.
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