Speculation is also that if India lift the crown in Ahmedabad on November 19, Modi might bring the election ahead to capitalise on the craze that it would generate.
By: Shubham Ghosh
WHILE 10 teams have taken part in the 50-over cricket World Cup which is underway in India, it is not just the game and the players that are hogging the limelight. It is speculated that politics is another field which is also getting a boost via the marquee tournament and with the country’s next general elections some six months away, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by prime minister Narendra Modi also stands to be a big winner.
The Indian cricket board or the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has attracted politicians over the years, is now run by Jay Shah, son of Indian home minister and the country’s second-most powerful leader Amit Shah, and much of the BCCI’s profits are distributed to state-level boards where local politicians play an active role.
According to a report by The Times UK, the ongoing World Cup has been overtly politicised as some of the venues chosen to host the matches were to favour politicians linked to the BJP. The final match of the tournament will be played at a venue named after Modi himself in Ahmedabad in his home state of Gujarat.
The Narendra Modi Stadium, which is the largest cricket stadium in the world with a capacity of 132,000, also hosted the inaugural match between defending champions England and New Zealand and the electric one between arch-rivals India and Pakistan.
The Indian team’s jersey was also specially modified to incorporate the National Flag’s three colours along the shoulders.
Speculation is also that if India lift the crown in Ahmedabad on November 19, Modi might bring the election ahead to capitalise on the craze that it would generate.
Indian historian and cricket fan Mukul Kesavan told Al Jazeera on the eve of the World Cup last month that the tournament is being hosted by a country the government of which “turns every event into a celebration of itself with an eye on imminent elections”. He also said that it is more “politicised” than ever.
He even called the World Cup a cricketing G20 after the mega gathering of the world’s top political leaders in New Delhi for the forum’s summit. The event was projected as a victory of Modi’s supposed ambition for global statesmanship.
Columnist Suresh Menon wrote in India’s The Hindu newspaper in October that the tournament would serve “as an extended election campaign”.
He even said that it “is likely to be remembered not as Kohli’s or Stokes’ or Bumrah’s World Cup so much as the BJP’s World Cup”.
Cricket’s deep links with politics is not new in India but in times of Modi and his BJP, it has been taken to the next level.
The prime minister himself has not been found involved in any advertisement or marketing for the marquee tournament even though he tweets congratulating the Indian side every time it wins a game.
Shah was seen attending the India-Pakistan clash in Ahmedabad while Indian sports minister Anurag Thakur was seen viewing the game between India and New Zealand at the stadium in Dharamsala in his home state of Himachal Pradesh. It would not be surprising if heads of state from other nations arrive in India to witness games from the knock-out stage onwards.