Lords of democracy

Democracy has had a rough history. It’s taken for granted by us, but it’s been an unpopular idea for most of human existence Plato believed that tyranny is the natural consequence of democracy and modern democracies started appearing only in the 19th century, that too with restricted enfranchisement: no women and slaves, please. Even in this 23rd year of the 21st century, it’s estimated that more than 40 per cent of the world’s population lives in political systems that are not democratic across a third of the world’s countries.

Geneticists explain faith in the supernatural through the existence in human beings of a ‘god gene’; they have also proposed the idea of a ‘leader gene’, which drives some of us to leadership roles. Perhaps there resides a ‘dictator gene’ in us as well, which could explain why we covet power and, once we get it, do not wish to relinquish it.

This, naturally, brings us to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh.

Brij Bhushan won’t be re-elected the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) not because of the infamy that has dogged him for years, certainly not because he’s been chargesheeted by the Delhi Police for alleged sexual harassment of female wrestlers. He won’t be elected WFI president because he has been heading it for 12 years and is ineligible for another term.

Would, then, Brij Bhushan loosen the iron grip he has had over WFI? Not very likely it’s almost certain that he would get one of his sidekicks to take the reins. How, you’d ask, can this be predicted with certainty? Isn’t the election process democratic and isn’t the best and most suitable candidate chosen for important positions through democratic means? Not quite, because we know how democracy works in sports associations.

Voting in elections of these associations is very strictly regulated. At the state level, it’s done through very strict control of the members, out of whom some are made voting members, often on the basis of kinship or loyalty. Office-bearers fill the associations with their sons, daughters, friends in the case of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, it was found less than two decades ago that even the personal staff such as drivers and gardeners of a powerful business family had been given membership and voting rights!

These voting members elect the office-bearers, and their vote, naturally, is likely to be decided by ties of blood, business, friendship or loyalty. The state/UT then votes in the national election, and here too it’s governed by a mutual back-scratching arrangement. As The Tribune reported on Saturday, the state/UT associations affiliated with WFI are likely to elect a Brij Bhushan loyalist as president early next month.

WFI’s electoral college will comprise two members each from the 25 units affiliated with it; the two must be part of the executive bodies of these units. Now, excluding Maharashtra and Punjab, 23 units are likely to vote for Brij Bhushan’s candidate.

It’s a mercy that his own kin won’t be elected to the WFI’s top post in recent talks with Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, the protesting wrestlers had extracted the assurance to this effect. Thus, his son Karan Bhushan and sons-in-law Vishal Singh and Aditya Pratap Singh won’t be elected WFI office-bearers for now at least. Also ruled out are Brij Bhushan’s two close associates Jai Prakash, who heads the Delhi unit, and Uttarakhand unit secretary Satya Pal Singh Deshwal.

This is how democracy works in sports associations across all sports. The most egregious examples come from cricket, the most high-profile, richest sport in the country. That of the Nagpur-based Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) is the most ironical because its most visible face today, Shashank Manohar, is also considered a principled democrat after going against the the BCCI-proposed Big Three revenue-grab model in the International Cricket Council.

There are several Manohars from the clan in the list of VCA’s lifetime members. Shashank Manohar, a former VCA and BCCI president, is the son of former president VR Manohar. Shashank’s son Adwait Manohar is a former VCA vice-president who later became ineligible to contest the elections due to the Lodha Committee recommendations.

Coming from a great lineage of lawyers-cricket administrators, Adwait had become VCA’s youngest ever vice-president, at age 31. He played some First-Class cricket for Vidarbha never picked up a wicket, scored runs at 15.41 per innings. Not a shining success, but in Nagpur he’s seen as the prince who would be the king at VCA.

In the north, the Haryana Cricket Association has been in the house of the Chaudhrys the family of former CM Bansi Lal right from the mid-1970s. The Himachal association has been controlled by former CM Dhumal’s sons since 2000 Anurag Thakur and Arun Singh Thakur.

In Rajasthan, after the government enacted a law to loosen the grip of the Rungta family on the state cricket association (RCA), it didn’t lead to an end to nepotism. Lalit Modi was one man who railed against the Rungta method of controlling RCA through personal staff; but Modi got his own son installed as president of the Alwar Cricket Association at age 22! The young man went on to contest for the RCA president’s post, but lost to veteran Congressman CP Joshi. Guess who heads RCA currently? A man called Vaibhav Gehlot. A former cricketer and a commoner, you ask? Well, no he is the son of the Chief Minister. Democracy creates dynasts, across parties.

Djoker’s case

Novak Djokovic, with his 23rd Grand Slam title, has almost certainly ended the debate over the greatest tennis player of all time. His two great rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, possess very strong CVs, too. But Djokovic’s unbreakable mind and spirit, supreme fitness and burning desire probably give him the edge. Nadal has shown that hard work is a talent, too more valuable than natural talent. Federer, the most naturally gifted among the three, is also the prettiest of them poetry in motion. His claim on being GOAT greatest of all time is founded on artistry, aesthetics. Djokovic, however, has shown that beauty is not everything. He has a 27-23 personal record against Federer, and 30-29 against Nadal. He has weird beliefs among other things, he believes that through ‘power of prayer, power of gratitude’, ‘most toxic food or most polluted water’ can be turned into ‘most healing water’ but when it comes to hitting the ball across the net, it can be said he’s the most effective player ever.