On the victory bus

Politics in sports has always been the bane of Indian life. But can anyone keep them apart? After all the political raths, it was the Vijay Rath last week after India won the Twenty20 World Cup, and the politicians were right up there. They started with splashing ads in newspapers, their own pictures alongside the heroes of the South Africa triumph, chief among them being politicians from Maharashtra. First was Praful Patel, the Civil Aviation Minister congratulating the team’s victory under Air India’s banner, then Petroleum Minister Murli Deora. Sharad Pawar, being BCCI chief, was omnipresent anyway. It helped that some players are employed by the PSUs under Deora and Patel. Not to be left behind, Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde had the NTPC congratulating the cricket team, so what if no player is employed by the power company. To avoid being accused of having stolen the limelight, many of the ministers also put pictures of Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alongside their own. Now what was it about cricket’s new provision for free hits?