Where have all the politicians gone?

By Sanu George, Indo-Asian News Service

Except for Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, the entire top brass of Kerala politicos seem to have given the fourth one-dayer between India and England here a miss.

The VVIP pavilion was strangely empty of politicians quite unlike the India-Pakistan match here last year when everybody - from Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy to Sports Minister Dominic Presentation and senior leaders from almost all political parties - watched the proceedings almost from the first ball.

The upcoming elections are probably the reason, said S.K. Nair, president of the Kerala Cricket Association. 'Maybe a few roll up as the match progresses. For them, elections are more important because it is their profession.'

So, the VVIP box was instead occupied by top police officials and their families and senior bureaucrats.

The spectator galleries were also rather empty with an estimated crowd of only 45,000 instead of the 65,000 last time. The rising mercury has probably got a lot to do with that.

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