By IANS,
New Delhi : The Congress Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of politicising the Indian Premier League (IPL) issue rather than being concerned with the security of Indian voters, a party spokesperson said here.
“The BJP is in the habit of distorting things, they want to convert IPL into ‘Indian Political League’. They are not concerned with the security of Indian voters. They want to bring politics into everything,” spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters.
Taking on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who had described the shifting of the IPL abroad as a “national shame”, Singhvi released a copy of a letter written March 17 by the Gujarat police chief in which he had told the state cricket board to shift the dates of IPL matches because of the polls.
“Lok Sabha poll in the state is scheduled for April 30, 2009. We will not be in a position to demarcate the police force for the security purposes for the conduct of IPL matches between April 15 and May 3… In view of this, you may kindly explore the feasibility of shifting the match,” the letter said.
Singhvi said: “If not Modi, at least his police officials are concerned about the security of the people.”
Singhvi said that not only the Gujarat police officials but also the chief minister of BJP-ruled state of Karnataka had said that it would be impossible to hold IPL matches during the Lok Sabha elections.