IPL brawl: Mamata asks MCA to revoke ban on Shah Rukh Khan

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday seemed to be batting for Shah Rukh Khan in the IPL brawl case when she asked the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) to "reconsider their decision".

"We love Maharashtra... It's the capital city of India in respect to business. From Sachin to Shah Rukh... we love all... SRK is our brand ambassador. I don't know whether it will be right for me to comment upon it. It's a sensitive issue," Mamata said.

"I will appeal before them to reconsider the decision because there may be some emotional aspects. He had gone to the stadium with children. There must have been some misunderstanding," she added.

The MCA on Friday banned the Kolkata Knight Riders' co-owner from entering the Wankhede Stadium for five years, following his spat with the MCA officials after an IPL match on Wednesday night.

The MCA met on Friday morning and announced their decision in a press conference held by their president and former Mumbai chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh. "We ban SRK from entering (the) Wankhede (Stadium) for a period of 5 years. He cannot enter the stadium; it's a unanimous decision. There was a proposal of a life-time ban, but we want to send a message that this is not how one should behave. Nobody can support such behaviour, be it BCCI, IPL, MCA," the MCA president said.

On being asked whether there is any truth in Shah Rukh's allegations that his kids were manhandled by the security, Deshmukh said, "We have no such complaint from him. He can also file a police complaint like we did. More than 50 per cent of MCA officials were present at the time of the incident."

The MCA chief also clarified that they consulted the BCCI on the issue and have intimated their decision to the Indian board in writing. "We have consulted the BCCI on this. We have written to them on what we have decided. This is an MCA property; BCCI and IPL officials were also present there. Rules are the same for all," he said.

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