Congress-led Himachal government and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) were engaged in a blame-game over the scuttling of IPL matches at HPCA stadium in Dharamshala on Tuesday.
The HPCA alleged that it had requested the government for giving clearance for holding the IPL matches from May 10 to 14 and also after May 17 when the elections would be over, but it did not give a favorable response.
Press secretary of HPCA, Mohit Sood said, “The government is acting with vendetta and has launched a vilification campaign against the HPCA and also scuttled holding of IPL matches.”
The BCCI and HPCA had approached state DGP Sanjay Kumar and various state government authorities to provide security and administrative support for hosting these matches, but they purposely scuttled the request, he said.
Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Shanta Kumar has also criticized the government for not providing adequate security for IPL matches which would affect tourism in the state.
However, state Industries and Public Relations minister Mukesh Agnihotri asserted that the government was considering the request of HPCA but its president (Anurag Thakur) was busy in elections and was not keen on holding IPL matches.
Anurag Thakur is a BJP MP from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, and is seeking another term in the May 7 Lok Sabha polls from the constituency.