Repeat of Gujarat golden jubilee show Sunday

AHMEDABAD - A cultural show at Sardar Patel Stadium here organised Saturday to kick off Gujarat’s golden jubilee celebrations will be repeated Sunday for invitees who failed to enter the packed venue, said Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Nearly 50,000 invitees including cricketer Irfan Pathan, bureaucrats and mediapersons missed out on the glitzy function inaugurated by Gujarat Governor Kamla Beniwal.

With the situation taking an ugly turn, Modi Saturday apologised at the show and announced that it will be repeated Sunday for all those who were turned away.

Many invitees received minor injuries in the melee as police resorted to cane charge to disperse angry people who failed to enter the stadium.

Some chief ministers from Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states had a harrowing time entering the venue as their vehicles were held up by an angry crowd protesting being denied entry into the jampacked stadium.

The protesters also shouted slogans against Modi.

Though the function was slated to start at 7 p.m. the entry gates of the stadium had to be closed an hour before the start as the stands got packed.

The chaos, according to a source, was caused by indiscriminate issuing of invitations by the authorities.

Nearly 75,000 invitation cards were distributed while the stadium has a capacity of 25,000, the source said.