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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same...

Applause for Cricket, Silence for Badminton

Mumbai: When Lakshya Sen walked off the court after the final of the All England Badminton Championships, he carried with him the disappointment of another near miss. The Indian shuttler went down in straight games to Lin Chun-Yi, who created history by becoming the first player from Chinese Taipei to lift the prestigious title. But the story of Lakshya Sen’s defeat is not merely about badminton final. It is also about the contrasting way India celebrates its sporting heroes. Had the same narrative unfolded on a cricket field, the reaction would have been dramatically different. In cricket, even defeat often becomes a story of heroism. A hard-fought loss by the Indian team can dominate television debates, fill newspaper columns and trend across social media for days. A player who narrowly misses a milestone is still hailed for his fighting spirit. The nation rallies around its cricketers not only in victory but also in defeat. The narrative quickly shifts from the result to the effort -- the resilience shown, the fight put up, the promise of future triumph. This emotional investment is one of the reasons cricket enjoys unparalleled popularity in India. It has built a culture where players become household names and their performances, good or bad, become part of the national conversation. Badminton Fights Contrast that with what happens in sports like badminton. Reaching the final of the All England Championships is a monumental achievement. The tournament is widely considered badminton’s equivalent of Wimbledon in prestige and tradition. Only the very best players manage to reach its final stages, and doing it twice speaks volumes about Lakshya Sen’s ability and consistency. Yet the reaction in India remained largely subdued. There were congratulatory posts, some headlines acknowledging the effort and brief discussions among badminton enthusiasts. But the level of national engagement never quite matched the magnitude of the achievement. In a cricketing context, reaching such a stage would have triggered days of celebration and analysis. In badminton, it often becomes just another sports update. Long Wait India’s wait for an All England champion continues. The last Indian to win the title was Pullela Gopichand in 2001. Before him, Prakash Padukone had scripted history in 1980. These victories remain among the most significant milestones in Indian badminton. And yet, unlike cricketing triumphs that are frequently revisited and celebrated, such achievements rarely stay in the mainstream sporting conversation for long. Lakshya Sen’s journey to the final should ideally have been viewed as a continuation of that legacy, a reminder that India still possesses the talent to challenge the world’s best in badminton. Instead, it risks fading quickly from public memory. Visibility Gap The difference ultimately comes down to visibility and cultural investment. Cricket in India is not merely a sport; it is an ecosystem built over decades through media attention, sponsorship, and mass emotional attachment. Individual sports, on the other hand, often rely on momentary bursts of recognition, usually during Olympic years or when a medal is won. But consistent performers like Lakshya Sen rarely receive the sustained spotlight that their achievements deserve. This disparity can also influence the next generation. Young athletes are naturally drawn to sports where success brings recognition, financial stability and national fame. When one sport monopolises the spotlight, others struggle to build similar appeal. Beyond Result Lakshya Sen may have finished runner-up again, but his performance at the All England Championship is a reminder that India continues to produce world-class athletes in disciplines beyond cricket. The real issue is not that cricket receives immense attention -- it deserves the admiration it gets. The concern is that athletes from other sports often do not receive comparable appreciation for achievements that are equally significant in their own arenas. If India aspires to become a truly global sporting nation, its applause must grow broader. Sporting pride cannot remain confined to one field. Because somewhere on a badminton court, an athlete like Lakshya Sen is fighting just as hard for the country’s colours as any cricketer on a packed stadium pitch. The only difference is how loudly the nation chooses to cheer.

AIMIM’s Strategic Gamble

Updated: Nov 7, 2024

Aaduddin Owaisi

Aaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), with its primary base in Telangana, is trimming its ambitions for the November 20 Assembly elections in Maharashtra by contesting only 16 seats, mainly Muslim-dominated pockets in Marathwada and elsewhere. This is a sharp drop from the 44 seats the party vied for in 2019, and even fewer than the 22 it targeted in 2014. Despite the seemingly defensive strategy, the AIMIM believes it may yet wield decisive influence in a contest marked by shifting allegiances and coalition uncertainties.


AIMIM’s tempered approach indicated that the party is now focused on ‘winnability,’ prioritizing a small selection of constituencies as opposed to broader expansion. This shift acknowledges a stark reality: AIMIM’s once-growing base in Maharashtra has seen a steep decline in fortunes, with the party losing high-stakes battles in recent years, including the crucial Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Lok Sabha seat (in Marathwada) in the Lok Sabha election this year.


However, AIMIM Maharashtra president Imtiaz Jaleel, the former MP from Sambhajinagar, appears undeterred at these reverses. He believes the party can secure between five and seven seats and potentially act as a ‘kingmaker’ in a splintered political field where the contest is now not limited to the ruling Mahayuti and opposition MVA coalitions, but is witnessing the entry of the ‘third front’ in form of the ‘Parivartan Mahashakti Aghadi’ – a ragbag coalition of smaller parties.


The state’s upcoming election is being contested amidst emerging alliances, the Maratha agitation, especially potent in Marathwada, and a general ideological confusion - factors that Jaleel contends create a favourable climate for AIMIM.


The AIMIM’s constituencies strategically target regions where the party sees potential to consolidate Dalit-Muslim votes.


To that end, AIMIM has fielded four Dalit candidates from reserved constituencies, aiming to coalesce Dalit and Muslim votes under its banner. AIMIM’s pitch highlights issues like mob lynching, minority rights, and religious freedom.


In the 2019 Lok Sabha contest, the party had allied with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) - an alliance that helped Jaleel clinch the Aurangabad (as Sambhajinagar was formerly known) seat besides cannibalizing Congress-NCP votes in several seats.


The alliance soon unravelled. Despite this, Jaleel claims that AIMIM retains grassroots Dalit support, asserting that Dalit communities see AIMIM as a defender of constitutional values in a time of allegedly eroding rights.


The AIMIM’s slate spans several high-stakes constituencies: Malegaon and Dhule—where the party already holds seats—along with urban districts like Aurangabad and Nagpur, as well as Mumbai’s Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar and Byculla. Notably, Jaleel himself is contesting Aurangabad East.


In 2019, despite a modest tally of two seats, AIMIM demonstrated its ability to disrupt Maharashtra’s electoral landscape. Although it only claimed Malegaon Central and Dhule City, the party siphoned significant support away from the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led undivided NCP in at least a dozen constituencies.


This dynamic has fuelled accusations from the opposition MVA and the INDIA bloc that AIMIM acts as a ‘BJP’s B team,’ allegedly dividing the minority vote. AIMIM’s pared-back candidate list is, in part, an attempt to shed this label. While AIMIM had explored a possible alliance with the Congress and NCP, Jaleel claims that overtures went unanswered, while Congress denied any formal approach on part of the former.

Will the 2024 Assembly election see the AIMIM live up to its reputation as a strategic disruptor?

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