New Delhi: Expressing concern over the spot-fixing controversy in the ongoing IPL tournament, Congress on Thursday hoped the arrest of three cricketers would prove a "deterrent" to others involved in such illegal activities. "People of the country will lose interest in the game, if this creeps into their mind that the match is fixed. And then as a result, the stadia will go empty," party spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed said.
He refused to go into the issue of quantum of punishment for such players, saying it is for the Sports Ministry and the sports bodies to think and not for any political party. Ahmed also took a dig at BJP for "politicising" the issue, saying "while there should be sportsman spirit in politics, there should not be politics in sports."
"One should not do politics in every issue. We should praise those, who have unearthed this. Law should be allowed to take its course. No politics should be done in these things. This expose should prove a deterrent for other such persons involved in these activities," he said. Ahmed dismissed demands by certain quarters to disband the Indian Premier League, saying while action should be taken against the wrong persons, it is a wrong presumption that such a thing happened because there is too much money in the IPL.
"It is not like that. It is wrong to say that the game is getting spoilt due to huge money in the IPL. There is huge money in games
10:36 PM, May 16, 2013
Hours after his tweet on the blast outside the BJP office in Bangalore created furore, Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed clarified his position saying he only meant the public will now sympathies with the BJP and that will benefit them in elections. "BJP should understand my statement first and then may be we can talk," he added. ...
07:00 PM, Apr 17, 2013
After his party colleague Shakeel Ahmed's controversial tweet on Bangalore blast came under fire, Congress leader and Minister of State for Home Affairs RPN Singh said Ahmed's tweet was his personal opinion and that Congress party does not politicise terror attacks. ...
05:28 PM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: BJP on Wednesday termed as unfortunate the bomb blast outside its office in Bangalore and maintained that this "terror act" appeared to be the job of some sleeper cells active due to "lack of efforts" in fighting terror by the Centre. BJP President Rajnath Singh refused to react to Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed's contention that the blast would help the right-wing party in the forthcoming Assembly elections in...
04:35 PM, Apr 17, 2013
Congress leader from Bihar Shakeel Ahmed mocked JD(U)'s demand for a secular prime ministerial candidate of the NDA saying, "I don't understand how LK Advani is secular? Also, there are five RSS people in Nitish's cabinet, then how can Nitish Kumar be secular?" ...
05:56 PM, Apr 14, 2013
Ranchi: Interpreting Trinamool Congress' decision to bring a no-confidence motion against the UPA as amounting "coming closer" to the BJP, the Congress on Sunday said the motion would fall through under the weight of 305 MPs. "A 19-member party like Trinamool Congress announcing to bring no-confidence motion shows its closeness not only to the BJP, but also to the CPI(M), but it will be defeated by 305 members," AICC spokesman...
04:01 AM, Nov 19, 2012
New Delhi: Congress on Saturday played down ally Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's strong message that her party will remain in UPA as long as it received respect but will go it alone in West Bengal where both parties have an alliance saying she has said nothing which strains the tie-up. "Banerjee has not said any thing which strains the alliance. She has not said anything objectionable. We had fought...
08:05 PM, Jul 21, 2012
New Delhi: Seeking to keep Mamata Banerjee in good humour ahead of Presidential poll, the Congress on Tuesday said she had not crossed the limit by suggesting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name for the President's post and played down the threat by the Trinamool Congress to pull out from the government. "Mamata Banerjee is our valued ally and will remain our valued ally," Shakeel Ahmad, AICC in-charge of West Bengal,...
08:37 PM, Jun 19, 2012
Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal refused to comment on media reports, but Shakeel Ahmed said 'it seems it's not a scam but a loss'. ...
11:02 AM, Mar 22, 2012
New Delhi: As strains with the Trinamool Congress persisted, Congress and the government on Thursday extended an olive branch to Mamata Banerjee expressing readiness to hold consultations on contentious issues. The AICC also asked its leaders in West Bengal not to use harsh words against TMC workers and also appealed to workers from the latter to reciprocate. Addressing the media here separately, Home Minister P Chidambaram also said the government...
08:15 PM, Jan 12, 2012
New Delhi: Dubbing the BJP Ministry in Karnataka as the 'most corrupt government in free India', Congress on Wednesday demanded the immediate resignation of Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and all ministers indicted by the Lokayukta in the illegal mining case. "Those holding constitutional positions should uphold high moral traditions... Yeddyurappa and all ministers involved in the nefarious activities should quit," party spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters. His comments came close...
06:21 PM, Jul 27, 2011
New Delhi: With Telangana statehood issue hotting up, Congress on Monday sought to mollify those agitating for separate statehood by maintaining that it has not been against the creation of smaller states including Telangana. On a day when 10 party MPs and 39 of its MLAs, including 11 ministers, from the region resigned from Parliament and Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed dismissed suggestions that the development would reduce...
08:07 PM, Jul 04, 2011
Patna: RJD on Sunday demanded resignation of the Gujarat Chief Minister in the wake of a senior IPS officer alleging that Narendra Modi had allowed Hindus to "vent their anger" during the 2002 clashes. "Modi's role in the post-Godhra Gujarat riots case has been proved beyond an iota of doubt following the revelation by the senior police official. The latter should quit the chief ministership to allow the ongoing investigation...
06:15 PM, Apr 24, 2011
Sources told CNN-IBN that the Congress wants not just 98 seats, but wants these to be the winnable ones. ...
05:27 PM, Mar 13, 2011
New Delhi: The Congress and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) wrapped up a round of seat sharing talks in the capital on Sunday. After the meeting, the Congress said it is hopeful of sorting out the issue. TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will hold another meeting to finalise seat sharing. TMC leader Mukul Roy said, "We have realised that it is important to end the Left rule...
04:44 PM, Mar 13, 2011
The notice was because the official held public meeting in the school premises. ...
11:09 AM, Mar 17, 2009
Chennai: One of the title favourites, South Africa start their World Cup sojourn with a warm-up match against Zimbabwe here on Saturday, a match which is expected to help both teams assess their fitness and acclimatise to the conditions ahead of the big one. High on confidence after their ODI series win over India last month, South Africa will look to gain vital match practice in the day-night encounter at...
10:05 PM, Dec 12, 2007
