TDP: April 2014

Wednesday, 30 April 2014

Time of india ipl : TDP leader Anurahda

IPL match on voting day in Seemandhra worries parties Sribala Vadlapatla TNN Hyderabad: For the TDPBJP and Loksatta, holding an Indian Premier League (IPL) match on polling day is not cricket. Concerned that the IPL match scheduled to take place on the evening of May 7, polling day for the Seemandhra region, would deter cricket-loving fans from stepping out and casting their votes, these parties want the cricketing fixture to be postponed. In the second leg of IPL season 7, when the matches return to India from the United Arab Emirates, Delhi Daredevils are scheduled to play Kolkata Knight Riders on May 7 at the Ferozeshah Kotla Grounds in Delhi. The match will begin at 4 pm and go on till 8 pm. The TDP, BJP and Loksatta are of the view that the match may negatively impact voter turnout between 4 pm and 6 pm, when voting comes to a close. TDP general secretary P Anuradha has already petitioned chief electoral officer Bhanwarlal seeking postponement of the IPL match. Cricket match can send voter turnout for a six Hyderabad: “There are lakhs of IPL enthusiasts in the Seemandhra urban areas and there is a strong possibility that they might be glued to their TV sets rather than step out and vote. This is what we told the election officials,” she told TOI. It is a different matter though that the EC made it clear that they have no powers to stop an IPL match being played in a faraway place like Delhi. According to BJP’s Seemandhra spokesperson Bhanu Prakash Reddy, the match can become a problem and play spoilsport to voter turnout. Unlike in Telangana where Hyderabad, Warangal and Karimnagar are the main urban centres, Seemandhra has at least 10 urban centres like Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Guntur, Kakinada, Bheemavaram, Eluru, Rajahmundry, Ongole and Kurnool. “For anyone to emerge as a clear winner, there should be at least 70 per cent turnout,” he said, adding that the IPL match on polling day can deter cricket-loving fans from voting. Loksatta Party, too, is against the IPL match being held on polling day. “In 2002, when civic polls were held in Hyderabad and a India-Pakistan match was telecast live on the TV, we did a door-to-door survey on behalf of the state election officials and found that in low income group areas like Bholakpur and Musheerabad, the voter turnout was around 60 per cent but in posh areas like Jubilee Hills and Srinagar Colony, the turnout was a mere 17 to 18 per cent,” said Bandaru Ram Mohan Rao, a Loksatta leader who was part of an election watch campaign in 2002. What is adding to their worry about the IPL match being held on voting day is that in the hot and humid Seemandhra region, the maximum percentage of voting takes place only in the last two hours of polling. But with the EC expressing its inability to stop the IPL match from taking place on May 7, the political parties might have to come out with some ways to lure the cricket-loving voter away from the match for a few moments to exercise his/her franchise. POLL VS IPL Parties feel Daredevils-Kolkata Knight Riders match on May 7 may cast a shadow on voter turnout IPL matches start in the evening, that is when polling turns brisk TDP seeks intervention of election commission to stop the match Poll panel says it has no power to stop the May 7 match