HCA to be blamed, say TRS leaders

HYDERABAD: TRS leaders held Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) president Mohammad Azharuddin responsible for the stampede at the Gymkhana Ground in Hyderabad which left several people injured.

Party leaders were not willing to come on record citing 'party leadership's instructions' to maintain calm. TRS leaders claimed that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and IT minister K.T. Rama Rao had issued directions to sports minister V. Srinivas Goud to conduct a detailed inquiry into alleged irregularities in the sale of tickets and black marketing. That would form the basis for taking action against the HCA.

“Sports minister has already summoned Mohammad Azharuddin and HCA officials and inquired into the issue on Friday.  He sought a detailed report on sale of tickets, guidelines followed for allocating tickets to corporates and other sponsors, guidelines followed for sale of tickets in online and offline mode. HCA officials have informed the minister to submit a detailed report to the minister in a day,” a city TRS MLA said.

The ruling party leaders were angry at the Azharuddin-led HCA not maintaining transparency in ticket sales, taking unilateral decisions and keeping government machinery in the dark.

“This incident attracted national and international headlines and brought disrepute to Hyderabad. While ticket sales in other cities, it created havoc in Hyderabad. It clearly shows the fault lies with HCA,” said another TRS leader.