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Not Politics, but Cricket takes Center Stage in 2009 Elections |
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Pitched By Cricket360 Editor
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Wednesday, 25 March 2009 |
The veteran politicians are geared up for a big innings as the Indian Premier League has been sent into exile for one year. The tussle between the ruling party and opposition over the IPL controversy, points toward one phenomenon and that is: politics has struck its roots deep down Indian sports. And that cricket can well be the decider in the outcome of this year’s Loksabha poll.
BCCI’s decision of taking IPL out of country sparked off big controversy - in the cricket circles and beyond. It seems that the issue now relates more to the world of politics than sports. It only took the BCCI chief announce their decision of taking IPL outside Indian borders and the country got to witness a rare spectacle of high voltage political sparring involving country’s some of the most seasoned politicians - both from the party in power and the one that aspires to grab the power this time. For the people of India, IPL’s moving is sheer disappointment; but for the opposition it came as a god sent gift ahead of the election. Opposition’s propaganda machine quickly turns it into an election issue by pitching it as center’s failure, while the party in power strikes back by labeling the opposition claims as “exaggeration”. The ruling party seemed to hit the pitch only after padding up tight. “The most provocative comment has, expectedly, come from Shri Narendra Modi. He has described the decision of the IPL to go out of the country as a ‘national shame’. What is a national shame? Most people think that the Gujarat communal riots were a national shame”, Home Minister’s boundary to Gujrat CM’s googly.
Latter he calls out for a stoppage to the politicization of cricket. He said he found no “reason to add politics” to a “shrewd combination of sport and business”. At the same time he said he felt compelled to respond to rather “unwarranted” campaigning by the political opposition. In response to BCCI president Shashank Manohar’s suggestion that lack of political will was behind the exile, Chidambaram said: “If he was referring to the central government, the remark is entirely unwarranted. If Manohar was referring to the state governments alone, I would like to remind him that state governments are ultimately responsible for maintaining law and order and one has to respect the judgement made by the state governments.” The cricket followers in the subcontinent are however feeling insecure - what if the experiment becomes the practice? Ahead of election, the ruling block is hit by the insecurity too, as the IPL takes center stage in opposition’s election campaign. The authorities from the top levels have now taken to the ground to alley the insecurities among the common masses, that the movement may affect the upcoming cricket in subcontinent. Home Minister P. Chidambaram affirmed that cricket is completely safe in the country. But he said that it was only the overlapping dates that necessitated such a move. “If after taking note of these limitations, some states have expressed their inability to provide security to the IPL match during the 45 day period of elections, that is a judgment that all right thinking citizens of India should respect,” our home minister appealed to the nation. Ahead of the Loksabha election, cricket and politics seems to be so closely knit that speculations are making rounds that with NCP and Congress striking a deal on sit-sharing in Maharashtra, there are still hopes of staging IPL in the country.
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