CUTTACK: Come winter and the sahis and slums of Cuttack city come alive with gully cricket tournaments. This year too, the pitches are busy. But, there is a marked upscaling of the tournaments as they have visibly turned more grand and colourful.
In fact, the number of tournaments being organised in different areas have gone up and the sports goods, jersey and article shops are doing brisk business. All thanks to the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections later this year.
Generally, the cricket tournaments are organised from November to February where the organisers bear the expenditure for new bats, balls, jersey and food for players. This year, the organisers have been replaced by politicians.
Political leaders, sitting MLAs, ticket aspirants across parties have taken a special liking to cricket tournaments and showering them with their benevolence. Apart from generously sponsoring the sports events, they are also making their presence felt on the ground by taking active part in the matches.
While some are inaugurating the matches and taking shots on the field, others are attending trophy presentation and prize distribution ceremonies. The atmosphere around the ground virtually seems like campaigning for the elections has commenced in full-flow in not only the two Assembly segments in the city but also the seven others across the district.
Considering the demand from clubs and youth associations, wholesale shops dealing in sports items at Pithapur, Choudhury Bazaar, Nandi Sahi and Balu Bazaar have stocked products procured from Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi and Gujarat.
There are more than 30 shops in different localities of the city which exclusively deal with sports items. A variety of jerseys are now available at the shops with prices ranging from Rs 120 to Rs 800.