It’s one of the most anticipated events on Mumbai’s calendar, but it seems like British band Coldplay’s debut performance in the country could be in jeopardy.
Coldplay’s concert in India on November 19 was seized in a political crossfire Thursday, with the Opposition targeting the BJP government in Maharashtra over the event. The gig is also expecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend which is being hosted by Global Citizen, at the MMRDA ground in Bandra-Kurla Complex.
A press release issued by Head of the Mumbai unit of the Congress, Sanjay Nirupam, claimed that the organizers had listed the BJP-led Maharashtra government as a “strategic partner” for the concert. The Congress also objected to the government’s decision to provide a concession in the venue’s rent and a waiver of entertainment duty to the organizers. “This is tantamount to influencing the voters at public expense,” Nirupam said.
Whether #Coldplay event is a violation of code of conduct? We handed over a petition to Mah Election Commissioner demanding him for a probe. pic.twitter.com/aFHGHj6AIp
— Sanjay Nirupam (@sanjaynirupam) November 3, 2016
The Nationalist Congress Party also attacked the government saying . “Farmers are committing suicide in the state. There is unemployment. But all the government can think of is doling out concessions to the Coldplay concert,” said NCP’s national spokesperson Nawab Malik.
We are not asking for a Ban on #Coldplay #Mumbai concert, we want concessions given by #MMRDA for the event to be withdrawn.
— nawab malik (@nawabmalikncp) November 4, 2016
Nirupam wants the event to be postponed or given sanction only after the polling process is completed. But if unsuccessful, he wants the Election Commission to ensure that there should not be any political speeches at the star-studded event.
Apart from Coldplay, the concert will feature Jay Z and a host of Bollywood celebrities including Aamir Khan, A.R. Rahman, Arjun Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan, Farhan Akhtar, Kareena Kapoor-Khan, Katrina Kaif, Malaika Arora-Khan, Ranveer Singh, Shah Rukh Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, as well as sportspersons Sachin Tendulkar, Sakshi Malik, Vijender Singh and many others.
Nobel Peace laureates Kailash Satyarthi and Mohammed Yunus will also join the celebrations which also marks the World Toilet Day.
Until now there’s been no change to the event’s schedule & Global Citizen has not issued a statement about the objections raised to the Coldplay concert so far. So Lets keep our fingers crossed!