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The Gujarat chief minister is the latest in the long list of politicians who, after taking a fancy towards the game, have tried their hands, often successfully, at running its administration. Union agriculture minister and NCP supremo is ICC chairman-designate, while Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Arun Jaitley is the president of the Delhi and District Cricket Association. Congress Rajya Sabha member Rajiv Shukla is the vice-president of BCCI, while union heavy industries and public enterprises minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was only recently elected vice-president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association. BJP MP from Hamirpur, Mr Anurag Thakur lords over the affairs of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association. Another political heavyweight, Union non-conventional energy minister Farooq Abdullah heads the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. RJD chief and former Union minister Lalu Prasad too turned into a cricket buff, but his efforts to control the Bihar Cricket Association have ended in a legal tangle.
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Whats luring them? The glamour? The money? The free publicity?
One thing is certain its not for the cause of cricket.
The nexus between cricket and politics probably started with a few cricketers contesting the elections. After that the politicians decided to invade the pitch. Now that the politicians have found out the good length spot on the pitch, they started pitching in thick and fast. The pitch will shortly be dug up to suit the people at the helm. Once that is done, you can watch more cricket on the side lines than on the pitch and with so many politicians thronging the corridors of cricket, Iam sure that we may see more of unparliamentary behaviour in cricket than before.
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