Mismanagement set the tone for the day, with passes allegedly being sold at double the face-value. A Rs 2000 pass was sold for Rs 4000, a Rs 4000 pass for Rs 6000 and that of Rs 5000 for double the figure at Rs 10,000.

Civic sources attributed the chaos to ``over-enthusiastic'' civic officers who, they said, in an attempt to get into the good books of the state government, tried to raise more money than had been targeted.

The State government, according to officials, had set a target of Rs 1 crore to be raised from the event and to be donated to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund.

However, district authorities set their sights higher -- at Rs 3 crores to be precise -- but could collect only Rs 1.70 crore, according to District Collector R M Shah.

A number of VIPs, who were invited by the Collector for the event, allegedly had to go back as they were not allowed to enter the stadium.

Later, after heckling, some, however, were allowed to watch the show. A senior councillor alleged that Mayor Navneet Jariwala had distributed free passes to councillors with an eye on the forthcoming mayoral polls.

He told Express Newsline that he became suspicious of Jariwala's motives and refused to accept the free pass.

He said he was not aware if any of the councillors had paid for the passes. The sources claimed that the mayor had managed to get the passes of an entire block (numbering 110) from the district collectorate.

When contacted, Jariwala refused to discuss anything about the ``pass controversy.'' The city BJP president, too, tried to played down the issue, saying ``don't write about it.''