The raging topic today in every meeting, be it a casual discussion among friends or a high-level meeting among officials in the Home ministry is, "Which is more important? IPL or General Elections in April-May. If you get down to plain interest among the public, especially among those sceptics who think that the "General elections and voting" are just a more official way for the politicians to loot public money, IPL wins hands down.
Many in the political circles fear that the IPL matches during april-may could bring down interest in politics and subsequently the voter turnout which is already abysmal could further deteriorate. A recent survey by an independent agency shows, people prefer IPL to politics.
But the latest attacks on the SriLankan Cricket team in Lahore have cast a shadow on IPL. The Home ministry officials are more vary about having IPL and Elections parallely. The government cant afford another terrorist attacks which may seriously dent their chances in the upcoming elections. Any minor mishap during the matches and the opposition will pounce on it.
That is why, the government is treading a cautious path.
Nevertheless, a more serious approach towards elections and voting from the public and a elaborate security to both election campaign and IPL matches will be the need of the hour. These are testing times for both the public as well as the government.
