Book reveals many state legislators are avid kabbadi players, fans

After cricket, Pro Kabaddi has become popular among the sports lovers and among them are few of our politicians who have been playing the game since their college days. Many have played kabbadi at the state level too.

In a book released by Maharashtra legislature that carries a brief introduction of the state MLAs, more than a dozen have mentioned kabaddi as their leisure sport.

These MLAs include independent Bachchu Kadu, NCP’s Sanjay Kadam, Congress MLA Kalidas Kolambkar, Bhausaheb Kamble from Congress, former minister and now BJP leader Vijaykumar Gavit, Shiv Sena’s Ajay Choudhary, Bhaskar Jadhav from NCP, Sudhakar Deshmukh from BJP, Bhimrao Dhonde of BJP, Shivajirao Naik from BJP, Ulhas Patil from Shiv Sena, Subhash Patil of PWP, Udaysingh Padavi of BJP, Sudhir Parve of BJP, cabinet minister Ram Shinde among others.

Kalidas Kolambkar from Mumbai’s Wadala constituency was a university level player in late 1970s. “I used to represent MD College at the Mumbai University then. Ours was the best team, as many from it went on to play for the state and country,” he said.

“Kabaddi was hugely popular then. People used to buy tickets to watch matches. However, the government did not encourage this game. Now, Pro Kabaddi has brought back the vigour in the game and I am happy about that,” he added. Mr Kolambkar hosts kabaddi matches in his constituency to encourage and support the young players.

Another MLA Sanjay Kadam of NCP used to play kabaddi at the district level in 1985-87. He represented Khed tehsil, his current constituency. “I am still a great fan of kabaddi. It is the game of this soil. I do not miss any kabaddi match in my constituency or on the TV. I am the founder-president of the tehsil Kabaddi Association. Now, many changes have brought into the game to make it speedy. With powerful mediums such as television and internet, I believe the game would become more popular in future,” Mr Kadam said.

An avid kabaddi player during his college days, BJP’s Bhimrao Dhonde from Ashti, Beed constituency was captain of the Pune University team in 1973. He, like others, conducts state-level kabaddi tournaments for girls and boys in his district.