The sudden decision of the state legislators to curtail Day 2 of the winter session and rush to catch T20 action at Jamtha caused chaos
at the already chaotic Vidarbha Cricket Stadium. It also caught the organizers completely unaware as they were forced to make last-minute changes in the seating arrangements to accommodate the 'gate-crashers'.
Making a beeline to catch the India vs Sri Lanka slam-bang-thank-you-ma'm match were CM Ashok Chavan, Narayan Rane, Ajit Pawar, Nitin Raut, Anil Deshmukh, Manikrao Thakre, Eknath Khadse, Sunil Tatkare, Babanrao Pachpute, Harshwardhan Patil, Abdul Sattar, Vijay Wadettiwar, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, Prakash Dahake, Rajendra Shingne, Krishna Hegde, Aslam Shaikh, Kshitij Thakur, Vilas Tare and other MLAs.
The road to Jamtha was choc-a-bloc with vehicles making Wardha road a busy carriageway. To make matters worse at the venue, which has the same entry-exit points and limited parking space, the drivers of the VIPs drove the vehicles into the stadium premises making the VCA officials extremely unhappy.
They were seen pleading with ministers and their drivers to park the vehicles in the area allotted for four-wheelers. However, the requests went in vain. There were a number of cops at the gates which added to the melee. The end result was inconvenience to the paying spectator.
VCA president Sudhir Dabir was on his toes trying to ease things. The tension on his face was palpable as the ministers and MLAs 'gatecrashed' into the stadium.
"They should not have brought the vehicles into the stadium,'' said an angry fan who rightly predicted that the cars will make it difficult for spectators to leave the stadium after the match.
One VCA official, who did wish to be named, said, "Conducting the match itself is a tough task and when we get so many VVIPs suddenly, the job becomes even more tougher. It was for the first time that so many ministers were coming to see the match."
Though there was disappointment in the VVIP Box, its members were well taken care of. They got star treatment with attendants moving in and out with snacks and drinks.