Coldplay concert faces political heat in Maharashtra

Mumbai, Nov 3: The opposition Congress-NCP on Thursday attacked the BJP-Shiv Se alliance for waiver of entertainment tax and rentals to the British rock band Coldplay’s much-hyped concert scheduled for November 19 here. The Congress went a step further and complained to the State Election Commission (SEC) demanding that the event — in which the Maharashtra government is a ‘strategic partner’ — be postponed until after the ongoing civic elections process in the state.

The star-studded event, which is reported to be a total sellout, will feature performances by Jay Z and a host of Bollywood celebrities including Aamir Khan, A.R. Rahman, Arjun Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Karee Kapoor-Khan, Katri Kaif, Malaika Arora-Khan, Ranveer Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, Vijender Singh and many others.

Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam on Thursday shot off a letter to State Election Commissioner J.S. Saharia, pointing out that top politicians will participate in the event organised by the Global Citizen India as part of its iugural Global Citizen Festival.

“The state government has granted the organisers 75 per cent concession on the rent for the MMRDA Ground, Bandra East, and waived off entertainment tax for the event. This is a waste of public money and such concessions are not granted to other organisations,” Nirupam said in the letter. Morevoer, he pointed out, organising entertainment shows at public expense is tantamount to influencing the voters and the platform would be exploited politically in the ongoing civic elections season. Nirupam urged Saharia to probe how the concert was granted so many concessions during the election season and that the show must be brought under the ambit of Election Commission code of conduct. (IANS)