Softening their stand on hosting IPL matches alongside the general elections,a couple of states gave the green signal to the new revised schedule for IPL on Thursday,but that might not be enough for clearing the deck for the premier cricket tournament. The Home Ministry has made it clear that the willingness of the state governments to host IPL matches would be only one of the considerations when the Centre takes a final call. The decision on whether to let the tournament go ahead or not would be based solely on the overall security assessment of the country. Till Thursday evening,three states had sent in their formal response to the Home Ministry,with two of them,Karnataka and Maharashtra,said to have expressed confidence of ensuring a safe environment for the matches to take place at their venues on the new dates. The third state,Andhra Pradesh,however,has once again expressed its reservations,sources said. Himachal Pradesh,Punjab and West Bengal have also been reported to have agreed to host the matches on the fresh dates,though their formal response is yet to reach the Home Ministry. IPL organisers had been asked by the Home Ministry to suggest a revised schedule for the tournament,whose original itinerary coincided almost completely with the upcoming general elections,in consultation with the state governments. The revised schedule,which too is slotted in the same April-May window,was then sent to state governments for their responses. The tournament organisers have been hoping to convince the state governments to ensure adequate security to the IPL with their police forces,to overcome the constraint arising out of the Centres refusal to spare para-military personnel for the matches. The Home Ministry,however,said the consent of the state governments would not automatically mean that the tournament was on. The security environment in the areas adjoining the venues as well as in the neighbouring states were also important considerations which needed to be taken into account,sources said. Meanwhile,the final decision on IPL is likely to wait till the next week with Home Minister P Chidambaram scheduled to be out of town from Friday. The responses of the rest of the state governments are also still to come in,without which a overall security assessment and a decision on the feasibility of holding the tournament cannot be made. Rajasthan government lashes out at Modi Jaipur: The Rajasthan government on Thursday lambasted IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi for dropping Jaipur as a venue in the revised schedule of the Twenty20 tournament and said the people of the state will never forgive him. Shanti Dhariwal,the states Home Minister,blamed Modi for acting against the state because he recently lost the election in the Rajasthan Cricket Association. We wanted only two out of six dates rescheduled, Dhariwal said. But IPL chief executive officer Sundar Raman dismissed any ulterior motive on the part of IPL.
