Chennai, From calls for a ban on Chennai Super Kings (CSK), a franchise team of the Indian Premier League (IPL), to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s analogies from cricket for his “political prowess” – the gentleman’s game took center stage. In the assembly on Tuesday, members of the ruling DMK and the opposition targeted each other.
The cricket joke was part of a larger discussion on demands for grants from the Department of Youth Welfare and Sports Development, headed by Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin.
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MLA SP Velumani demanded IPL tickets for legislators, saying his party had done so when it was in power in the state.
Meanwhile, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) MLA SP Venkateswaran demanded that the state government ban “non-Tamil team CSK”.
Udhayanidhi, in a lighter vein, suggested that the demand for tickets be taken up with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s son Jay Shah, who is the secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which organizes the IPL. They said, ‘He will not listen to us.
While Udhayanidhi’s reply lauded DMK members and Stalin, the BJP accused him of playing “divisive politics”.
Addressing the house for about 50 minutes, Udhayanidhi compared the DMK to a cricket team.
In his childhood, he said, he played cricket with his father as well as his grandfather, the late DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi. “We have coaches like Periyar, Peraringar Anna, Muthmiz Kalaignar (Karunanidhi) and Parasiriyar Anbazhagan in our team.”
Stating that “no other team” has a coach like the DMK, he said, “Periyar taught us who our opponent is and when and how to fight them. Anna taught us how to build a team with unity, duty.” And playing keeping in mind the values of dignity.Kalaignar Karunanidhi taught us which ball to play and which ball not to play.
On and off the pitch, Udhayanidhi talks about his staunch “cricket skills” Said, “MK Stalin is a good leg-spinner. When someone is bowling, he cannot bat.”
He cited Governor RN Ravi’s assent to the state’s online gambling bill and the Union Coal Ministry’s decision to cancel coal block auctions in Cauvery. delta region After protests from the state government as the two most recent sixes of Stalin.
“Our team captain Stalin is now teaching us when to play in defense and when to hit sixes,” he said. “He hit two sixes recently.”
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DMK vs AIADMK-BJP
Demand for IPL tickets for MLAs AIADMK’s SP Velumani said that his party had made a provision for this when it was in power.
In response to this, Udhayanidhi asked, ‘IPL has not happened in the state for four years, for whom did you take the ticket?’
Amit Shah’s comment followed. “I bought IPL tickets and gave them to 150 players in my constituency at my own expense,” Udhayanidhi said.
Taking a dig at the BJP’s attempt to make inroads in the state, he said, “Tamil Nadu has a long political history from the time of Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas. Only Tamils are playing here, no one from the North has emerged victorious here.’
He further said that the state and its people have been unique in this way and added, “Even now, some are thinking that they can conquer Tamil Nadu and are striving for the same. Their game is unlike any other state across the country. May be successful in Tamil Nadu but not in Tamil Nadu as it has a strong team called DMK and Captain MK Stalin.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP state vice-president Narayanan Thirupati said the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association is headed by Higher Education Minister K.K. Ponmudi’s son Ashok Sigamani, and he accused Udhayanidhi of “trying to mix politics with everything”. “This is the level of his politics,” he said.
He demanded an apology from Udhayanidhi for his remarks on the “North and Tamils” and accused him of playing “divisive politics”.
Demand to ban CSK
Earlier, raising the issue of IPL, PMK MLA Venkateswaran demanded that the state government ban CSK for not having a single player from the state despite Tamil Nadu having so many talented players.
He pointed out that there is a huge fan following for IPL in the state and CSK is making huge profits from it.
Some Tamil Nadu players who have played for CSK are Palani Amarnath, Anirudh Srikkanth, Arun Karthik, Ravichandran Ashwin, Subramaniam Badrinath, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Chandrasekhar Ganapathy, Narayan Jagadeesan, Yo Mahesh, Abhinav Mukund, Vijay Shankar, Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan and Murali . Victory.
Arun Karthik, Chandrasekhar Ganapathy and Vijay Shankar have played only one match each. Other players like Baba Aparajith and Sai Kishore have made it to the team in the past.
(Edited by Geetalakshmi Ramanathan)
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