Supporters of a contentious plan to put an Indian casino in southern Maine will not be part of this week’s Yarmouth Clam Festival parade, the event’s organizers said Wednesday.

Citing the group’s controversial political nature, parade officials denied the pro-casino political action committee Think About It from entering their Indian-themed float in the Friday parade.

“Our intent is to have our parade be lighthearted and not offend anyone in either way,” said Carolyn Schuster, managing director of the Yarmouth Chamber of Commerce, the festival’s organizer.

“It wasn’t a hard decision,” Schuster went on to say, noting that the event has never permitted political entrants, at least not in the past eight years of her tenure. “It’s not directed at any one group; it’s just not something we’ve allowed.”

The explanation did not sit well with Think About It spokeswoman Erin Lehane, who said the group’s exclusion epitomized the divisions in the casino fight between wealthy opponents in places like Yarmouth and supporters in the less affluent towns like Sanford, the proposed site of the $650 million Las Vegas style casino.

“I think the median income says it all,” said Lehane.

The median household income in Yarmouth is $58,030, compared to $34,668 in Sanford.

Furthermore, Lehane asked why the prohibition, like several others – including those on fundraising and water guns – wasn’t listed on the application.

“They list ‘silly string,’ but not political groups?” asked Lehane, who instead attributed the decision to exclude the pro-casino group to undue influence from the strong anti-casino faction in that part of the state.

“This is just another example of the opposition not wanting us to get our message out,” she said.

Dennis Bailey, spokesman for anti-casino group Casinos No!, scoffed at the idea that the well-funded pro-casino effort was being silenced.

“What!” he said when told of Lehane’s comment. “They probably have $10 million to get their message out. They’re just being crybabies.”

Former state Sen. Phil Harriman, a member of the festival’s steering committee as well as the executive committee of Casinos No!, said he was not involved in the decision to exclude Think About It from the Yarmouth festival, which draws between 150,000 and 180,000 people to the town.

But parade organizers did concede that the need for a written policy on the political ban might be revisited.

“I guess, after this, we’re going to have to think about that,” said Sarah Steinman, the chamber’s assistant director.

Maine voters will decide whether to allow the Indian casino at a Nov. 4, 2003, referendum.