Past allegations of match fixing are giving former India captain Md Azharuddin tough time in fixing a parliamentary seat from Bengal for himself. If reports emanating from the ruling Trinamool Congress are to be believed then the party has spurned his request for a safe seat in Bengal. Unsure of a victory on a Congress ticket from any place other than Murshidabad the stylish batsman of the yesteryear has requested the Trinamool leadership for a ticket reportedly through the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid only to be politely told by the Bengal outfit about its inability to oblige.
A sitting Congress MP from Moradabad the former Hyderabad cricketer does not want to become a sitting duck in the face of a Modi wave. He has been looking for greener pasture this time round following reports that his chances of a win from his present sit are dim.
“Azharuddin had approached me and I told him that our party will provide him a seat in Bengal,” State Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury said, adding, “We are more than happy to give ticket to Azharbhai as tickets for his matches were always unavailable when he played and we used to stand for hours in long queues at the Eden Gardens for that one precious ticket.” The Congress has kept open two constituencies for him: Basirhat and Krishnagore both of which have a sizeable section of minority voters.
However, with the Congress’ condition in Bengal no better than it is in other places and with its role limited in the State to that of a game-spoiler for the Trinamool Congress Azharuddin’s interest in a ticket from this State seems to have dropped prompting him to look up to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for a bailout.
A senior Trinamool Congress speaking to your correspondent said “now it is too late for him to get a ticket from this State as we have already selected our candidates. He should have approached earlier. After all everyone should remember that the Trinamool Congress is not a dump yard.”
He also said that “policy wise” the party did not want to field a cricketer “whose name is involved in certain cricketing scams.” A third reason why the Trinamool is reluctant to oblige Azhar is that the Chief Minister has already been under pressure to explain the presence of such a huge number or celebrity candidates in her party.
Critics have already been wondering whether the low performance rate, infighting and rising hoodlumism and corruption during the current regime is one reason why the party has preferred star candidates.
In fact the wave of criticism prompted the Chief Minister to back her decision to field celebrities on Tuesday saying hers was one party that fielded celebrities with a definite idea. “We want the new generation and people from other walks of life to join politics,” she said.