West Bengal’s Sports Minister Aroop Biswas (L) & Maharashtra’s Sports Minister Manikrao Kokate (R) | File Pics
We live in strange and wonderful times. It is not often that two ministers, both holding portfolio of sports, give up or are forced to give up the ministry within a day of each other. The divestment of portfolios of Manikrao Kokate, who has had an image management problem, with several unsavoury controversies dogging him, and Aroop Biswas’ voluntary yielding of his sports portfolio, has turned the spotlight on political parties finding their consciences just in time when elections come around.
Whether they were pushed or goaded by circumstances, these developments must be welcomed for what they are worth, with the caveat that one or two sparrows certainly do not a summer make. In other words, we count our blessings and keep our fingers firmly crossed.
West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas tendered his resignation on Tuesday over the fiasco that took place at Kolkata’s Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium) on December 13, where an event organised to welcome one of the world’s greatest football players, Argentinian soccer star Lionel Messi, quickly descended into chaos, prompting the star player to cut short his visit. Messi and his Inter Miami team-mates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul were on a three-day GOAT India tour to promote the sport, participate in brand and charity events, and connect with his Indian fans.
That he had to cut short his Kolkata programme due to crowd control issues and security lapses was an image-denting reality the Mamata government was faced with. By resigning from his post as the sports minister, Biswas has, perhaps, not only put an end to his moral dilemma but also tried to salvage a situation which could have otherwise proved costly for the TMC, what with the impending assembly elections round the corner.
A similar situation pertaining to moral dilemma prevailed in Maharashtra too. Maharashtra sports minister Manikrao Kokate of Ajit Pawar’s NCP was pronounced guilty by the Nashik court in a cheating and forgery case. An arrest warrant was issued against him on Wednesday, as he moved the Bombay High Court seeking suspension of his conviction. Later in the day, he allegedly became ill and got admitted to the Lilavati hospital. However, taking a cue from his provincial Bengali counterpart, he, too, has resigned from his post, a crucial move at a time when Maharashtra is gearing up for the civic polls due in January next year.
No stranger to controversies, during the monsoon session, Kokate was filmed playing an online card game on his phone while sitting in the legislative council, following which he was relieved of his agricultural portfolio. The warrant issued pertains to a case registered in 1995 over allegations that Kokate, along with his brother, acquired flats under the state government quota by submitting forged documents.
Today, when ministers, despite performance failure or proven acts of misdemeanour, continue to rule, for Biswas and Kokate better sense seems to have prevailed.
