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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.

Bottled Greed

A massive liquor scandal exposes Andhra Pradesh’s circular politics of vendetta, offshore money trails, and electoral manipulation.

Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh

The arrest of P.V. Midhun Reddy, Member of Parliament and floor leader of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in the Lok Sabha, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Andhra Pradesh Police marks a turning point into a byzantine probe that has grown from a bureaucratic irregularity into a transnational money-laundering operation.


The charges against Reddy of criminal conspiracy, cheating, breach of trust, and laundering illicit funds through shell companies, relate to a liquor policy scam that allegedly cost the state Rs. 3,200 crore during the previous government’s tenure.


According to the SIT, Reddy played the role of “core conspirator” by designing liquor policy changes that suppressed popular alcohol brands in favour of obscure labels linked to politically connected distilleries. These firms, in return, allegedly paid hefty kickbacks routed through a constellation of dummy firms and offshore accounts. The funds, officials claim, were then funnelled into the 2024 general elections, securing “undue political advantage” for the ruling party at the time. Reddy’s arrest is the twelfth in the case, and more are expected.


The scandal’s trail leads not only through Andhra Pradesh but also to Dubai. Investigators found that a luxury apartment in the emirate owned by a businessman named Shravan Rao and allegedly linked to primary accused Raj Kasireddy had served as a safehouse for key players. The SIT has noted that Kumar made 29 trips to Dubai since the investigation began, raising suspicions of hawala transactions and foreign asset concealment. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), working in tandem with the SIT, has begun attaching properties in both Hyderabad and Dubai that are believed to have been acquired with scam proceeds.


This is hardly Andhra Pradesh’s first flirtation with scandal. The state’s politics has long been steeped in a pattern of vendetta, corruption, and dynastic ambition. The YSRCP itself was born of such a moment. Founded by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in 2011 after a falling-out with the Congress leadership, the party rode to power in 2019 on the legacy of his father, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. Yet even before assuming office, Jagan was already under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the ED for allegedly amassing over Rs. 43,000 crore in disproportionate assets through quid pro quo dealings during his father’s tenure as Chief Minister. While legal proceedings lingered, political dominance kept enforcement at bay.


Current CM Chandrababu Naidu brings no clean sheet either. In 2023, Naidu was arrested in the AP Skill Development scam, accused of diverting Rs. 371 crore via shell companies. Then in opposition, Naidu cried foul. Today, his government calls the arrest of Midhun Reddy a lawful culmination of due process.


Yet, vendetta politics alone cannot explain the scale and brazenness of the alleged liquor scam. This was not policy failure but premeditated design. Government channels, according to the SIT, were used to nudge out established liquor brands in favour of lesser-known labels tied to political financiers. Liquor retailers were reportedly pressured to stock only approved products.


The arrest of a sitting MP makes the scandal unusually potent. It lifts the veil not only on how Indian elections are funded but also on the shifting geography of corruption. Dubai’s role as a bolt-hole and laundering hub, already well-known from past cases like that of diamond tycoon Nirav Modi, reappears here.


That trail now leads into Telangana, where Raj Kasireddy allegedly used the scam’s proceeds to buy 90 acres near a key industrial corridor outside Hyderabad. Of this, 60 acres were already sold at a profit. The remaining land, along with high-value properties in prime locations, is now under scrutiny.


The bigger question is whether this investigation marks a genuine pivot toward accountability, or merely another round in Andhra Pradesh’s unending carousel of power, privilege and payback. Each government seems fated to dig up its predecessor’s scandals, only to later bury its own. For now, the liquor may be off the shelves. But its bitter political aftertaste lingers and like any good spirit, it won’t evaporate quickly.


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