Opposition Congress and the BJP got here down closely on the minister for his controversial remarks.

Thiruvananthapuram:

Faced with criticism from varied quarters that ticket charges for the upcoming India-Sri Lanka ODI scheduled to be held listed here are exorbitant, Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman has sparked off an enormous controversy by saying that those that can’t afford it needn’t go to look at the match.

The minister made the controversial remarks on Sunday when reporters requested him whether or not the federal government would take into account withdrawing the alleged determination to hike the leisure tax to be levied from the spectators.

“What is the need of reducing the tax? The demand is that the country is witnessing the phenomenon of price rise so that the tax should be reduced. Those who are starving need not go to watch the match,” the minister mentioned.

Opposition Congress and the BJP got here down closely on the minister for his controversial remarks in opposition to the poor, saying a public servant shouldn’t have made such an announcement.

Slamming the minister, Leader of Opposition within the State Assembly V D Satheesan on Monday mentioned the folks had been “shocked” to listen to such a “rude and absurd statement” from a minister within the state’s democratically elected Communist authorities.

“The Chief Minister should not allow the minister to sit on that chair even for an hour. What does the CPI(M), which claims to be a party for the poor, have to say about this?” Satheesan requested.

BJP state president Ok Surendran urged the federal government to withdraw the “steep increase” in leisure tax being levied for the India-Sri Lanka ODI match.

The minister’s assertion that solely these with cash ought to watch the sport is an “insult” to sports activities lovers, he mentioned.

“The sudden hike in entertainment tax from five to 12 per cent is beyond the reach of cricket fans in the state. The cricket lovers are forced to pay 30 per cent tax including GST to watch the game,” Surendran mentioned.

The authorities, nonetheless, rejected the experiences that extra tax was being levied from folks to look at the match.

In an announcement, state Local Self-Government Minister M B Rajesh mentioned the leisure tax was truly diminished from the next charge to 12 per cent.

He mentioned the tax charge was fastened after holding discussions with the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), who’re the organisers.

In this backdrop, the KCA has began promoting tickets for the match scheduled to be held right here on January 15. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)