It was a fun day out for Parliamentarians on Sunday as they were seen taking on each other again, but not inside the House this time, but on a cricket field in a friendly match played between them at Delhi’s Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium to raise awareness against tuberculosis.
A group of select MPs from both the Houses of Parliament and across party lines were divided into two teams — namely, Lok Sabha Speaker’s XI led by former Union Minister Anurag Singh Thakur, and Rajya Sabha Chairman’s XI captained by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju.
The one-off match was titled as “TB-Free India Awareness Cricket Match”. The Parliamentarians could be seen having a lot of fun during the match, which was eventually won by Anurag Thakur-led Lok Sabha Speaker’s XI, who beat the Rajya Sabha Chairman’s XI by 73 runs.
Thakur, the former Union minister of Sports, played a huge part in his side’s victory as he scored 111 runs during the Lok Sabha Speaker’s XI innings.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey was adjudged the best fielder, while Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda was named the best bowler.
Also, BJP MP from North-East Delhi, Manoj Tiwari, received the Super Catch award. Union Minister Piyush Goel facilitated the winners of all the special awards.
Apart from the two captains and the winners of special awards, Parliamentarians who participated in the match, included Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Gajendra Singh Sekhawat, Mansuk Mandaviya, G Kishan Reddy, Suresh Gopi, and Ravneet Singh Bittu from the BJP, Chirag Paswan from Lok Janshakti Party, Jayant Chaudhary from Rashtriya Lok Dal, Gaurav Gogoi, Imran Pratapgarhi from Congress, Raghav Chaddha, Gurmeet Singh Meet and Harbhajan Singh from Aam Aadmi Party, Derek O’Brien and Yusuf Pathan from the Trinamool Congress among others.
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla was also seen trying his hand at batting.
“TB is a serious disease, and raising awareness is the most effective way to combat it. Spreading awareness about TB is a collective responsibility of the government, society, and Members of Parliament. During this winter session of Parliament, we MPs have resolved to enhance awareness against TB. To that end, select MPs from all parties are playing the TB-Free India Awareness Cricket Match,” Lok Sabha Speaker’s XI skipper Anurag Thakur said before the start of the match.
Kirej Rijiju said: “Several of our MP colleagues have come here. With the mantra of fitness, this event has been scheduled to fill people with vigour through sports. Our mantra is TB free India and Fit India Movement”.
AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chaddha also lauded the initiative, hoping the message of fitness will spread across the country.
“This is a good initiative. The match is being played for a good cause. I think the awareness of this cause will reach every corner of the country through this match,” Chaddha said.
(With inputs from news agency ANI.)
