BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on Monday criticised the Congress government in Karnataka after Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said all MLAs would get three free IPL tickets at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium.
In a sarcastic post on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Surya called it the “biggest achievement” of the state government, which, he added, will “benefit” six crore people of Karnataka.
“Truly historic day for Karnataka. Congratulations to CM and DCM for successfully concluding such a difficult and complex negotiation process involving so many stakeholders,” the South Bengaluru MP wrote on ‘X’.
He further quipped that the Congress party’s negotiation skills need to be used to end wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Shivakumar on Monday met with officials of the Karnataka State Cricket Association before announcing that every Karnataka MLA will receive three free tickets to watch IPL matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The Karnatka Congress veteran also added that each MLA will receive two tickets for international matches, with the option to purchase two additional seats.
The announcement came in the wake of a heated row, with legislators across party lines raising concerns over inadequate ticket allocation and seating arrangements. Some opposition MLAs, however, criticised the practice as an example of VIP culture.
The issue was raised in the Assembly last week, following which Speaker UT Khader directed the government to ensure that every MLA receives four VIP tickets for matches at the stadium. Earlier, legislators used to get only one ticket.
The Karnataka Assembly has a strength of 224 MLAs, while the state is represented by 28 MPs in Parliament.
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