The sport of politics: Where Rathore hit bull's eye and Bhutia missed a sitter

One is usually front page, the other mostly at the back. But in election season, politics and sports converge, defying the old adage that the two do not and should not mix.

Sports stars have long dotted the political firmament and will do so again this election with seasoned names like Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Kirti Azad and Navjot Singh Sidhu in the reckoning and maybe some newbies like cricketer Gautam Gambhir joining their fray.

"I feel sportspersons have a drive to do something for the nation, and whether they are on the playing field or in the field of politics, they always have that in them," Olympics silver medallist and Union minister Rathore told PTI.

The 16th Lok Sabha featured accomplished sportspersons like Rathore, a BJP leader who is minister of state for Information and Broadcasting, as well as former cricketer Kirti Azad (in the BJP to start with and now with the Congress), former football captain Prasun Banerjee (Trinamool Congress) and national-level shooter Kalikesh Narayan Singh Deo (BJD).

Deo won a trap gold at the national junior shooting championships in 1991.

Rathore, a double trap shooter, became a path-breaker when he was appointed the first sportsperson to helm the sports ministry in September 2017. He now holds independent charge of the I&B ministry.

"I think it is encouraging that sportspersons are deciding to play an active role in politics and therefore, in nation building. Their career in sports makes athletes disciplined and focussed," Rathore said when asked about his thoughts on sportspersons taking the political plunge.

"They also have a target-oriented approach and are go-getters. These are qualities that are essential in a good leader," said the first-time MP from Jaipur (Rural).

Rathore, Azad, who is in his third term in the lower house, and Banerjee are, however, not the first and neither will they be the last.

The 15th Lok Sabha had, apart from Azad and Deo, former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin (Congress) and his ex-teammate Navjot Singh Sidhu (BJP).

Azharuddin was in the fray from the Moradabad constituency in 2014 as well but ended up on the losing side.

Sidhu, on the other hand, made his way to the Rajya Sabha after being denied a ticket in 2014 and eventually quit the BJP to join the Congress.

In 2004, celebrated middle distance runner Jyotirmoyee Sikdar, who won two gold medals in her only Asian Games appearance, represented West Bengal's Krishnanagar constituency for the CPI(M).

Among the earliest to make the seamless transition from sports to politics was hockey star Aslam Sher Khan -- a World Cup gold-medallist and an Olympic bronze-medallist.

Khan was first elected to Lok Sabha in 1984. He won again in 1991 before losing four elections after that.

Chetan Chauhan, the man who partnered Sunil Gavaskar in many a memorable stands, was a two-time MP, winning the Amroha constituency for the BJP in 1991 and 1998.

No active sportsperson has entered politics for now.

In the upcoming polls, the buzz doing the rounds is that cricketer Gautam Gambhir will enter the electoral battlefield.

The outspoken former opener, who played a defining role in India's 2011 World Cup-winning campaign, is speculated to compete for the ruling BJP.

There are tangential connections too.

Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja's wife Riva Solanki has joined the BJP. She also headed the women's wing of the controversial Karni Sena -- the self-proclaimed representative of the Rajput community which grabbed headlines for violent protests against period Bollywood films deemed offensive by it.

So what pulls athletes to politics?