Recently Virat Kohli and Mirabai Chanu have received Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award. Bajrang Punia expressed his anger for being overlooked for the highest honor of country for a sportsperson. Bajrang’s 80 points were far more than Kohli’s ‘0’ and Chanu’s 44. The 24-year-old showed his resentment as he was not considered even after winning the Commonwealth and Asian Games gold. Bajrang met with Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Sports Minister to question him about being overlooked for the honor but he had said that he did not get a favorable reply. Later he threatened to move to the court, however, it is unlikely that he would take the matter to the court after his mentor Yogeshwar Dutt advised him against it. Bajrang was extremely hurt; he was nowhere close to forgetting the matter.
But it’s not the first time when controversy walked hand in hand with the Khel Ratna award. Let’s look back to some incidents of the controversies that surrounded the Khel Ratna award in recent years:
Anjali Bhagwat and KM Beenamol (2002)
Sprinter KM Beenamol was selected as the sole nominee for Khel Ratna, after an amazing performance in the Asian Games 2002. However, the National Rifle Association of India, as shooter Anjali Bhagwat was missing out, expressed their disappointment. Later the committee had to reconsider its decision.
“I had a wonderful 2002. I was ranked number one in the world and bagged four Commonwealth Games, a silver in the World Cup and in the Asian Games. If this performance is not enough then I have nothing to say.” –Anjali Bhagwat
Bhagwat was provided with what was overdue, and for the first time, for as many sports that were doled out, there were two Khel Ratna awards.
Ronjan Sodhi (2013)
The drama happened once again. In the year 2013, the head of the selection committee recommended shooter Ronjan Sodhi for the award, something that with all the members involved in the selection process didn’t went well.
Later it was revealed that initially, discus thrower Krishna Poonia and Paralympic athlete HN Girisha were on the shortlist. Poonia was accused of lobbying for the award but later she rubbished all such allegations.
Girisha vs. Sania (2015)
There was a long battle, before India’s tennis ace Sania Mirza conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna. With Paralympic athlete HN Girisha filing a Public Interest Litigation in the Karnataka High Court, the controversy became a clash between the former and the sports ministry.
Girisha stated that after bagging the silver medal in the 2012 Paralympics, he was the top contender, acquiring 90 points. Girisha’s petition also mentioned that Grand Slam win’s of Sania between 2011 and 2015 didn’t attain the cut-off for the award. In spite of that, controversies rested in peace and Sania Mirza emerged as the sole winner.
No award/Awards galore
Prominent athletes like discus throwers Vikas Gowda and Krishna Poonia, Badminton player PV Sindhu and golfer Jeev Milkha Singh were all in the mix but unfortunately, none among them made to the cut. At that time the selection committee was headed by India’s world cup winning captain Kapil Dev, who also recommended Milkha Singh’s name but from the rest of his crew, it didn’t met with much enthusiasm. There was no Khel Ratna awardee for the second time.
It’s notable that in 2009, there were three winners- boxers Mary Kom and Vijender Singh and wrestler Sushil Kumar. For the Olympic medal wins by Vijender and Sushil, they were rewarded. 2016, another Olympic year saw four winners that involved PV Sindhu and Sakshi Malik along with gymnast Dipa Karmakar and shooter Jitu Rai.
Deepa Malik (2016)
In 2016, during Rio Paralympics after clinching a silver medal in shot put, Deepa Malik felt that despite her achievements she was being unnoticed as she was also a medal in the quadrennial event. In the same year Devendra Jhajharaia, two-time Paralympics gold medalist and Sardar Singh former hockey skipper were granted with the award. Deepa felt that to include her name too an exception should have made.