- Monday, February 24, 2025
Yusuf Pathan, who was a member of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning side, allegedly used posters from that tournament during his campaign, angering his opponents.
By: Shubham Ghosh
AFTER his supporters triggered a row by using photographs of India’s World Cup-winning moment from 2011 to campaign for the upcoming general elections in the country, former India cricketer Yusuf Pathan on Friday (29) began removing them.
The move came after the Indian National Congress lodged a complaint with the country’s election commission accusing Pathan of violating the model code of conduct by using posters of India’s crown-winning moments 13 years ago. Pathan, who hails from the western state of Gujarat and is contesting the election on the tickets of Trinamool Congress in the eastern state of West Bengal, was a member of that squad led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Bengal unit of the Congress, which is a powerful player in the district of Murshidabad where Pathan is contesting, demanded a strict action against the latter and said using materials related to the World Cup-winning team is a gross violation of the conduct. The posters also feature Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest batter produced by India and a former MP.
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Pathan, 41, will take on Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha or the Lower House of the parliament, from Baharampur constituency, which the latter has been winning since 1999.
“It clearly depicts the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup-winning moments where images of our nation’s high-profile cricket celebrities are seen including the likes of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar…,” the Congress said in the letter to the CEO of the commission.
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Taking note of the complaint, the commission issued orders asking the former cricketer to remove the photographs. Accordingly, the ones showing Pathan and other cricketers was removed from a hoarding in Kandi town in Murshidabad.
Pathan, who is contesting the first election of his life, has called himself a World Cup-winning cricketer during the campaign. He was also a member of India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad of 2007.
He defended himself saying none of the cadres took his approval for using the photographs but assured that his party would take the necessary steps as per the commission’s direction, The Hindu reported.
Both the Trinamool Congress and Congress are parties to the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance which is eyeing to dethrone prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in this election but have refused to form an alliance in Bengal which is ruled by the Trinamool.
India’s minority Muslims dominate the population of Murshidabad.
The Trinamool has fielded another former World Cup-winning cricketer and former MP in Kirti Azad in Burdwan-Durgapur constituency. He was a member of the Indian squad that won the 1983 World Cup under the captaincy of Kapil Dev.
