Lok Sabha elections: Cricket and football players win, others disappointed

New Delhi: Cricket stars Kirti Azad and Yusuf Pathan defeated veterans while legendary footballer Prasun Banerjee also managed to win but others suffered defeats making it a mixed day for Indian sportspersons in the Lok Sabha elections. Two-time Paralympic champion in javelin throw Devendra Jhajharia and veteran hockey player and current Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey lost in Churu in Rajasthan and Sundergarh in Odisha respectively. Contesting on a Trinamool Congress ticket, both Azad and Pathan defeated veteran politicians to register victories.

Banerjee, another veteran player and former football captain contesting on a Trinamool ticket, won the Howrah seat in West Bengal by a margin of 1.69 lakh votes to become a Lok Sabha member for the third consecutive time. Azad, who was a member of the 1983 World Cup-winning Indian team led by Kapil Dev, made a strong comeback to politics by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) veteran Dilip Ghosh from West Bengal’s Bardhaman-Durgapur seat. Azad defeated Ghosh, the outgoing MP from Medinipur and former state BJP president, by 1,37,981 votes.

Pathan from Gujarat won the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in West Bengal by over 85,000 votes over five-time Congress MP and outgoing Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. While Yusuf is trying his luck in politics for the first time, Azad has a lot of experience in politics and has been an MP before. Jhajharia, who was contesting for the first time, lost the Churu Lok Sabha seat on a BJP ticket against Rahul Kaswan of the Congress by 72,737 votes. Tirkey also lost the Sundargarh seat on a Biju Janata Dal ticket to BJP veteran and former Union minister Jual Oram.

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