NCP downplays Pawar-Thackeray IPL meet

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As political circles dubbed Sunday's meeting of Pawar with Bal Thackeray as humiliating and Congress was left embarrassed, NCP spokesman D.P. Tripathi said : "No political significance should be attached to it."

He said Pawar met Thackeray to persuade him that politics should not be mixed with sports and in a democracy it is common to convince political rivals on viewpoints.

In a surprise development, India's cricket board president Shashank Manohar and his Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) counterpart Sharad Pawar, also NCP chief and a central minister, met Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Sunday to make peace on the issue of warning against inclusion of Australian players in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Congress chose to dissociate itself from the meeting with party spokesperson Manish Tiwari saying Pawar met Thackeray as a cricket administrator in his individual capacity for the game and Congress has nothing to do with the same.

Only last week Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi stumped the Shiv Sena by defying a protest threat against him during his visit to Mumbai for his "Mumbai for All" remark as he hopped on to local train and moved freely in the city in a hurricane tour.

The BCCI top shots' meeting with Thackeray came as a surprise to many since Thackeray, whose outfit has threatened to disrupt the game in Mumbai if Australian players are included following attacks on Indians in Australia, does not hold any official position.

The BCCI even said a presentation would be given to Thackeray on the matches in Mumbai.

Sharad Pawar, who is Union Agriculture Minister, did not speak to the media but his presence stunned the political circles.

Earlier, the Australian cricket players association had expressed security concerns in view of the Sena threats issued after racist attacks on Indians in Australia.

--IBNS