It was like a dream come true for millions of fans in India when the news broke that all time favorite band Coldplay would be having their first concert in the country in November 2016.
The band is scheduled to perform as part of the Global Citizen India's Mumbai festival which is a way of mobilizing the youth to take action in support of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals including sanitation, education and gender issues. Apart from Coldplay, a bevy of other celebrities are also scheduled to take the stage like American rapper Jay Z, Aamir Khan, Arijit Singh etc.
Even so, a chance to catch Coldplay live was without doubt the main draw and at first there was an air of disbelief. But once the news sank in, excitement began kicking in. The pricey tickets though took people by surprise. But it was soon made known that with active involvement by people in trying to achieve the organization's objectives, fans could earn discounted and even free tickets to the show.
And with November finally here and just a couple of weeks left for the big show, another bombshell was dropped on fans who are looking forward to a lifetime experience.
The Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have now demanded that the concert be postponed because the state government has given concessions to woo voters. According to reports, the Maharasthra chief minister Fadnavis has given a concession of 75% in fare to the organisers for the ground at BKC as well as tax exemption. With local body polls being conducted in the state, the Congress is insisting that the election code of conduct be made applicable to the festival so that the BJP does not “politically exploit the event”.
This latest turn of events has led to Congress being ridiculed from all directions and people who are attending the concert in particular, including quite a few Goans, are not having it.
BOX
It will work badly for them anyway. If they do cancel the show, then people will hate them and they will lose votes. And now that they have tried to threaten to stop the concert people are already hating them. Why don't they concentrate on issues like fixing potholes on the roads, the gradbage problem and water crisis instead? -Malcolm Rebello, Aldona
I don't think it's Congress fault that the BJP have violated the Municipal poll code to make this happen. The BJP would have done the same if the Congress had resorted to such tactics. Congress have brought light into the matter which is what any opposition or rival party would have done. The BJP should have used fair means when it came to this. Although I don't think the concert will be cancelled , at least I hope not “ Jarryd Rodrigues, Porvorim
The concert is for charity and like any good government should, the ruling party has given concessions and tax exemptions to a worthy cause. Anyone who has helped make this event possible rightlydeserves credit. Postponing the concert will backfire and Congress will lose favorability among the youth. It is also appaling that anyone would stand in the way of charity for their own self interest- Pooja Alornekar, Porvorim
