Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdulrahiman on Sunday drew criticism for saying “those starving need not go and watch the match” amid low turnout of spectators in the ODI match between India and Sri Lanka here.
The Greenfield Stadium in the Kerala capital which has a capacity of 55,000 spectators is said to have recorded an attendance of less than 10,000 people during the final game of the 3-match ODI series between India and Sri Lanka.
Stating that the BCCI would be apprised about the low turnout, KCA president Jayesh George said the association would also “communicate with the minister to remove his misunderstanding”.
Speaking to media persons earlier on Sunday about the match ticket sales, Abdulrahiman said: “What is the need of reducing the tax? The demand is that the country is witnessing price rise, so the tax should be reduced. Those who are starving need not go and watch the match.”
The KCA president, however, said that the CBSE examinations as well as the Pongal festival could have been the other factors that would have led to the low turnout in the match, while not sounding much appreciative of the Minister’s remarks.
When the match began at the Greenfield International Stadium at, a turnout of only 7,000 people was reported.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress and the BJP have come out strongly against the statement of the minister.
Opposition leader V.D. Satheeshan said: “People were shocked to hear such an absurd and rude statement from a minister and the state’s democratically elected government.”
He also said the Chief Minister “should not allow the minister to sit for even a day in the chair”.
Kerala unit BJP president K. Surendran said “Abdulrahiman’s statement was irresponsible”, and the government should have withdrawn the steep hike in entertainment tax.
–IANS