New Delhi: One is usually front page, the other mostly at the back. But in election season, politics and sports converge, defying the old adage that the two do not and should not mix.
Sports stars have long dotted the political firmament and will do so again this election with seasoned names like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Kirti Azad and Navjot Singh Sidhu in the reckoning and maybe some newbies like cricketer Gautam Gambhir joining their fray.
The 16th Lok Sabha featured accomplished sportspersons like Rathore, a BJP leader who is minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, as well as former cricketer Kirti Azad (in the BJP to start with and now with the Congress), former football captain Prasun Banerjee (Trinamool Congress) and national-level shooter Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (BJD).
The 15th Lok Sabha had, apart from Azad and Deo, former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin (Congress) and his ex-teammate Navjot Singh Sidhu (BJP).
Azharuddin was in the fray from the Moradabad constituency in 2014 as well but ended up on the losing side. Sidhu, on the other hand, made his way to the Rajya Sabha after being denied a ticket in 2014 and eventually quit the BJP to join the Congress.
In 2004, celebrated middle distance runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, who won two gold medals in her only Asian Games appearance, represented West Bengal’s Krishnanagar constituency for the CPI(M). No active sportsperson has entered politics for now.
