Beyond the headlines: The real story behind the Haryana basketball players' deaths

The tragic death of two promising teenaged basketball players in separate freak accidents in Haryana has sparked off a full-fledged political slugfest between the BJP and AAP.

What should have led to a serious debate about the sorry state of sports infrastructure in Haryana, arguably the sports powerhouse of the country, has turned into political battle between political rivals.

The sudden and surprise visit of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann to meet one of the player’s bereaved family in Rohtak has only intensified the war-of-words between the BJP government in Haryana and the AAP regime in Punjab.

This was Mann’s first publicised visit to the neighbouring state, though his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini has been making frequent trips to Punjab in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly polls. As AAP tries to duck anti-incumbency, the BJP is seeing a window of opportunity in Punjab.

In the backdrop of the ‘crumbling’ sports infrastructure in Haryana, Mann, obviously concerned at Saini’s presence in Punjab, was quick to hit back at the BJP governments, both in the state and at the Centre, asking them to take note of the sorry state of affairs of the sports infrastructure in the country in the backdrop of India hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

However, Mann smartly denied that he had come in Haryana to play politics over the tragedies in Haryana, arguing that he had comes as his state’s sports minister and a sports lover. He even claimed that he had kept Haryana Chief Minister Saini in the loop about his scheduled visit.

As a damage-control exercise, a concerned Haryana Government pressed its young Sports Minister Gaurav Gautam into service to counter the Punjab Chief Minister. Gautam, who visited Rohtak before Mann to condole the death, asked Mann to refrain from playing politics over the tragedies while ordering the audit of sports infrastructure across Haryana. In the meantime, Saini announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh each to the bereaved families.

While Mann termed the deaths as the result of “failed system” in Haryana, Gautam was quick to remind Mann about the sorry state of sports infrastructure and poor plight of sportspersons in Punjab.

As charges and counter-charges flew thick and fast, the need to have realty check and better sports infrastructure in Haryana, the state which brings maximum medals for India in the Olympics and world championships, seems to have been lost in political rhetoric.