Kasauli, May 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday hit out at the Congress for shifting the Indian Premier League (IPL) out of the country during 2009 and 2014 Lok Sabha elections. During a rally in Rajasthan's Karauli, PM Modi said, “There were two occasions when it could not be played in India, and it was played in South Africa. This happened in 2009 and 2014. The government at the Centre was so scared of terrorists. That government had no courage.” Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Narendra Modi Slams Mamata Banerjee for ‘Not Doing Enough to Uplift Poor’.

Intensifying his attack on the previous UPA governments, the Prime Minister added that in 2009 and 2014 previous governments said there were elections, so police were busy and shifted the IPL out of the country.  He said that elections are going even now also and there were various festivals too, but still Modi is conducting IPL  in the country. The PM also stated that the previous government was scared of terrorists but Modi is standing tall. IPL 2019 Playoffs Schedule: Time Table, Date and Venue of IPL 12 Qualifiers and Eliminator.

In 2009, the IPL was shifted to South Africa as the Election Commission that time had said that the country had not enough forces to provide security for the elections and to hold the matches separately. Similarly in 2014 also, few IPL matches were one-half of the tournament was played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to general elections.

The remaining 12 seats of Rajasthan including Ganganagar, Bikaner, Churu, Jhunjhuju, Sikar, Jaipur rural, and Jaipur are going for polls in the fifth phase on May 6. On April 29, the parliamentary elections were held on 13 seats in the state. Meanwhile, the counting of votes will take place on May 23.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 03, 2019 04:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).