“We came here to meet Mamata Banerjee. We have requested her to patronize Kolkata Knight Riders and invited her to watch KKR matches with us at the Eden Gardens,” confirmed Juhi Chawla.

Reportedly, the meeting between the two lasted for about 20 minutes during which Mamata presented Juhi with a tri-color bordered stole.

According to Juhi, Mamata might attend the match on Tuesday and she had said that “she will not sit in the VIP box but watch the match with the common people.”

Mamata reluctant to be part of KKR show?
According to Trinamool sources, Banerjee has no problem extending her support to KKR and skipper Saurav Ganguly, but she does not want to be part any hype surrounding the team.

A senior Trinamool leader said, “Our leader is a mass leader. Therefore, she has decided not to be a part of the pomp and show. She does not want to sit and watch the game from the VIP box set up by Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. People are paying so much money to be in the VIP box. This will send a wrong message to the people.”

Mamata’s reluctance to be in VIP box could also be because of the fact that she does not want to be part of the row building over the high prices of VIP box.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also invited to watch KKR match
As per tabloid reports, a “personal invitation” has been dispatched from owners of KKR to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for Tuesday’s match.

However, the news has not been confirmed by either of the parties.

An official from Bhattacharjee’s side said, “The chief minister hasn’t mentioned anything; so we can’t confirm whether an invitation has reached him. He didn’t visit Eden to watch the first edition of the IPL either. We don’t know whether he will go this year, even if he is invited. He prefers the traditional form of cricket.”