IS #BHAICHUNG BECOMING A POLITICAL FOOTBALL IN #TMCs SIKKIM ADVENTURE? It is worrying to see Bhaichung Bhutia, a son of Sikkim, being played as a political football by the TMC in its bid to spread outside West Bengal. The announcement of Nakul Das Rai as a TMC candidate for the Lok Sabha polls from Sikkim is a curious development and is quite possibly a curtain raiser to SKM eventually lending support to TMC. Bhaichung’s accusations against SDF are very uncharacteristic and contradict his own previous comments. He risks becoming a pawn in TMC’s strategy to enter Sikkim politics. Bhaichung also risks becoming the flag-bearer of the Sikkim-Darjeeling merger argument. It is unfair on his part to blame his professional failure to start a football academy in Sikkim on the Government. Bhaichung accuses that “the Sikkim Government did not give him land” to start his academy. But, in an interview to this newspaper in November 2013 (goo.gl/cnSqCC) he had said quite the opposite when asked about support from the Government: “There are many mouths that the government has to feed. We don’t want to burden them. We thoroughly understand the government’s stand… Instead of taking from the government, we believe in giving something back to the state. If we excel in football it will only bring laurels to the state.” How come such a change of heart in just four months? Former SDF MP Nakul Das Rai’s nomination by TMC has come just two days before SKM is slated to release its own candidate list. If TMC’s calculated statements against SDF through Bhaichung are any indication, we may see SKM coming out in support for TMC for the Lok Sabha polls and in return bargain for an endorsement from TMC. The SDF has said that Bhaichung is too naïve to understand the nuances of realpolitik in which he has embroiled himself. For now, let’s wait and watch if Bhaichung’s political bonhomie with the TMC extends to SKM as well.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 17:41:40 +0000
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