THE General Elections are over and the public has given the Congress-led UPA the mandate to form the government again. The results have thrown up a few welcome trends like the overwhelming response from the young voter and the change of fortunes in the most politically important state, Uttar Pradesh.
For the sports buff, some sportspersons are among those elected. Andif some others had not lost – Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, Ranjib Biswal, Aslam Sher Khan, Chetan Chauhan and Jaspal Rana – the sporting strength in Parliament would have been much stronger. And, together they could have given a meaningful thrust to sports in the country. But it is hoped against hope that even the dozen or so sportspersons and heads of sports federations who have been elected/re-elected would strive to bring about a change in the sports scenario in general and lives of former/retired/poor sportspersons in particular. It is also hoped that hey would make a genuine effort to cut the red tape in sports offices/federations/ministry and make life of all those associated with sports easy through meaningful policies and quick file movement.
Former India captain Mohammed Azharuddin leads the sporting fraternity in the 15th Lok Sabha, or the lower house. The other well known names elected/re-elected are former cricketers Navjot Singh Sidhu and Kirti Azad, Sharad Pawar (vice-president of the International Cricket Council), Anurag Thakur (president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association), Suresh Kalmadi (president of the Indian Olympic Association), Yashwant Sinha (president of All India TennisFederation), Digvijay Singh (president of the National Rifle Association of India), Naveen Jindal (competitive shooter) and Sanjay Singh (keen badminton player whose name cropped up after the murder of multiple national badminton Syed Modi in Lucknow in 1980s).
The interesting aspect is not how many sportspersons or sports officials get elected to Parliament. The bigger and more relevant question is: how much do these Parliamentarians contribute to the uplift of sports in the country, assist in making meaningful sports policies, and help the poor/retired athletes get regular income in the form of pension or through other means? The answer, sadly, is not worth a mention.
Sportspersons are, generally, a quiet lot whose biggest asset is their sporting skill. And this quietness of theirs is reflected in Parliament too as they hardly take part in any debate or raise hard hitting and relevant questions pertaining to sports in the country. There has rarely been any joint effort by sitting MPs, from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, on sports-related issues.
Ideally, when sportspersons get elected to Parliament, they should shun party lines and look to work towards making sports a viable alternative career for youngsters, helping athletes who retired many years ago and are now living in penury, and also work closely with the sports minister in formulating a vibrant but less verbose sports policy that is acceptable to all (and not like the one that pits inflated egos of ministers like Mani Shanker Aiyar and sports administrators like Kalmadi in an unending battle of attrition, as it happened before MS Gill took over from Aiyar).
I don’t mean that the elected sportspersons/sports administrators need to make their presence felt by breaking furniture or shouting on top of their voices. They can contribute more meaningfully by participating in debates and raising sports-related issues whenever opportunities come.
Unfortunately and sadly, rarely have the likes of Kalmadi, Yashwant Sinha and Digvijay Singh been seen or heard raising concerns of sportspersons or issues that hamper the fraternity at large even when their parties were in power. Look closely at the replies that they (and the sports federations) give to questions raised by non-sports MPs in both houses and most of the time you would find that they end up defending sports policies and acts of the federations rather than giving an honest picture of the issue raised or admitting their follies.
Current sportspersons are a scared lot most of the times and so they should not be expected to raise issues concerning them. If they open their mouths, they fear officials might take revenge on them and scuttle their careers. Even if athletes raise issues they often do it quietly with their federation officials when no one is watching or listening. Therefore, it becomes imperative for these sportspersons/administrators-turned-MPs to bring to the notice of the government the problems faced by athletes and federations. And there are many, many issues that need urgent attention and resolution; red tape being one of the prime ones.
One only hopes those elected to the Lok Sabha – and those already sitting in the Rajya Sabha – would, for a change, work towards the betterment of their ilk and not just sit quietly and take home the handsome salaries and other privileges that go with it for the next five years.
