18-May-2009 96
Sport and politics is a heady mix. But cricket and politics is an even more potent mix. More so when cricket stars enter the political arena. Cricket is larger than life in India and the IPL draws more eyeballs than the general elections.
Hence, it comes as no surprise that the three big sports stars to be elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2009 general elections are cricket heroes Navjyot Singh Sidhu, Kirti Azad and Mohd. Azharuddin.
A smattering of sportspersons ranging from shooter Karni Singh to athlete Jyotirmoyee Sikdar (who contested on a CPI (M) ticket from Krishnanagar in West Bengal and lost) have graced the august halls of Parliment , but the allure of cricket is overpowering.
There was also ace shooter Jaspal Rana, who lost from the safe BJP seat of Pauri Garhwal. Rana, golden boy, has won many gold medals for India in international shooting events most notably in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games where he emerged as a multiple gold medallist.
Shooter Navin Jindal hit the bulls eye though, winning on a Congress ticket from Kurukshetra. Not so lucky was former hockey player Aslam Sher Khanm a National Congress Party (NCP) candidate, who lost from Sagar, Madhya Pradesh.
On the administrative side meanwhile, Suresh Kalmadi, Indian Olympic Association president, won on a Congress ticket from Pune. Former BCCI president and NCP bigwig Sharad Pawar also won, taking the Madha seat in Maharashtra.
Sidhu, married to a doctor, retains his Amritsar seat on a BJP ticket. Elected from Amitsar in 2004, Sidhu beat OP Soni of the Congress by a narrow margin of 6,858 votes to be returned to the Lok Sabha. To his credit, Sidhu mananged to ward off a strong anti-incumbency wave against the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine and the strong `Punjab ka puttar` wave in favour of prime minister Manmohan Singh in Amritsar, one of the two places where the good doctor campaigned extensively in favour of Congress candidates. A protege of BJP national general secretary Arun Jaitley who shares his passion for cricket as the DDCA presdent, Sidhu is being groomed by the party for a bigger role.
Sidhu has led a controversial life, facing charges of culpable homicide - on which he was convicted and had to resign his Lok Sabha seat on moral grounds. Of course, he was re-elected soon after.From a tour of England, Sidhu was sent back, a la Lala Amarnath after an altercation with captain Azharuddin. Ironically, now both are in Parliament, both on different sides of the political divide.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi`s faith in fresh faces paid off in a big way, specially in UP. A sportstar to benefit was former India captain Azharuddin. Plucked from his native Hyderbad, Azhar triumphed in the brassware town of Moradabad.
Another former Test cricketer lucky at the hustings is Kirti Azad who was returned to Parliament from Darbangha on the BJP ticket. Son of Bihar strongman and former Central minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, Kirti has a natural inclination for politics.
Paceman Chetan Sharma lost in Faridabad on the BSP ticket. `Behenji` Mayawati prove unlucky for him. Former Test star Chetan Chauhan, twice elected to Parliament from Amroha, missed the bus from East Delhi, by a long chalk this time.
The Dikshit juggernaut was once again rolling. After winning the East Delhi parliamentary seat with a record margin of 229,000 votes in 2004, Sandeep Dikshit was back in form. This time, chief minister Sheila Dikshit`s son won by a massive margin of 240,000 votes over BJP`s Chauhan. (Courtesy: SportzPower).
