Many who used to be his fans when he was in international cricket will support Mohammed Azharuddin now as he begins his political career as well.  As one supporter said about him in Moradabad the constituency he is standing from, “I have come here to see my hero. I have been his fan for long and feel fortunate to see him in real life.” Young supporters were out in force with the trademark up turned Azhar collar as he began the phase of intense campaigning ahead of the polls.

Azhar hopes to solve the problems that beset the area, such as those exacerbated by the global recession as well as other endemic ones such as poverty, lack of electrification, poor agricultural yield etc. Azhar indicated that he was well aware of the problems farmers faced since he has worked in his aunt’s fields when young.

Meanwhile Azhar is having to deal with the various charges being leveled against him by opposition parties such as the match fixing scandal and about being an ‘outsider’ for the constituency he is standing from. The match fixing issues he has dismissed as being irrelevant to the elections, one that is of no interest to people "This (match-fixing scandal) will not be an issue in the elections here and we are not interested in this issue," he said.

To those that are labeling him an outsider, he said, "Outsider tag will not hurt me during the elections as a lot of people come from outside and do very good work and I hope to do the same," he said.  Azhar is aware that his celebrity status in cricket is an advantage that helps him in reaching out to his constituency.  "It does help because it is easier for me to reach to people and it is not difficult to get introduced to them. I have the added advantage but I really need to work hard to win the seat last won by Congress over 25 years ago," he said.

It seems like Azhar is already as adept at fielding political questions as he was fielding the ball when he was in international cricket and playing for the Indian cricket team. What will count is his leadership qualities and whether he can serve his constituency as well as he led his led his players as captain of the team.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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