Ticked off in ticket matters

  Having been able to wrest tickets for its own during the recent World Cup matches, the BBMP has been outmuscled by private enterprises which are hosting the IPL games in the City. 

The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), in response to a letter by Mayor S K Nataraj on the eve of the first Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, has refused to spare even a single ticket for the Palike. Reason: KSCA does not have any powers in distributing tickets for IPL which is being hosted by DLF builders, reports DHNS from Bangalore.

On Tuesday, hours before the match between RCB and Mumbai, threats and requests from corporators to officials were all shot down by the top authorities in the BBMP as there were no free tickets available for distribution in the Palike.

“It has been a mad house since Tuesday morning with corporators demanding tickets for the IPL games in the City,” said an official.

KSCA, on its part, has expressed helplessness to the BBMP in providing tickets for the IPL games as the association itself is not involved in hosting the cricket matches in Bangalore. “The KSCA has stated that the IPL organisers are paying rent towards the games being played in Bangalore. Thus, we are not eligible to demand the tickets,” informed the official.
A hard blow to the BBMP which had earlier this year stated that its quota of tickets was a ‘corporators’ right’ and could not be denied by KSCA.

Perhaps, heaving a sigh of relief in this entire melee is the common man who will not be denied an extra ticket to enjoy the ‘cricketainment’ on display for the next one month, at least this time round.