Nothing brings Indians together like cricket does — even across political boundaries. Karnataka has presented the latest example of this. Steeped in “VIP” culture, though.
Legislators from both the state’s ruling Congress and the opposition BJP want free tickets — one MLA set the bar at five each — for the Indian Premier League (IPL) inaugural match to be held in Bengaluru.
The issue came up in the legislative assembly, raised by Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, who got support from across the board.
Deputy CM DK Shivakumar referred to a legendary Mauryan king as he said he would raise it with the Karnataka State Cricket Association. “I will surely tell them this is a request from ‘Samrat Ashok’,” he said in jest inside the assembly, NDTV reported.
IPL 2026 starts this Saturday with a match between home team Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Vijayanand Kashappanavar, the Congress MLA from Hungund, later explained why KSCA must give special treatment to MLAs. “They (cricket association) are taking all the facilities from the government. They are getting all the security, everything… But they are not respecting MLAs,” he told the media, as per the report.
“We are VIPs. We can’t go in the queue and stand there. We went last time… They are sending us to a gallery with the public. It’s not going to happen,” he further said.
(In case you did not know from context, VIP is short for ‘Very Important Personality’, used in government protocols too.)
Kashappanavar laid out the demand in numbers as he explained how he supported the BJP’s R Ashoka inside the assembly. “We requested the Speaker to take necessary action and issue a minimum of five tickets for the MLAs,” he said. He also claimed the KSCA was “collecting money and enjoying”.
Inside the House, R Ashoka also slammed the KSCA. “We have given them 16.32 acres of land at a nominal price of just about ₹1,600 a month; but they charge us thousands for match tickets. They have crores of rupees and they loot us; and the government wants to build another stadium for such people. They need to be taught a lesson,” he said.
Speaker UT Khader told the government to hold discussions with the KSCA “regarding this issue that MLAs are raising”. “They sometimes give just one ticket to MLAs… they should give a minimum of four tickets to the MLA and family,” Khader said, tempering the demand to a number lower than five.
At this, deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said: “I will speak to the KSCA president and sort this out. I’m a member there too.”
Former Team India pacer Venkatesh Prasad is the current president of the KSCA.
