Bhandara, Maharashtra:
Days after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi endorsed the idea of keeping politicians away from running sports bodies, NCP's Praful Patel, a Congress ally, has strongly refuted the suggestion.
"I can tell you one thing, I'm passionate for the sport and I am there because the people in the football fraternity think that I am eligible for the job and doing a good job," he told NDTV. Mr Patel is the President of All India football federation (AIFF) and he played an important role in India being named hosts of the 2017 Under 17 FIFA world cup.
Mr Gandhi had said on Friday, "If you are talking about sports and how to make it more accessible, then more and more powers should go to sportspersons when deciding things about sports in the country."
Responding to Mr Gandhi's comment, Mr Patel said "I don't think it should be linked to being a politician. It should be linked to performance."
Not mincing his words, he said, "What is this nonsense going on in this country. Politician shouldn't do this. Politician shouldn't do that. Is the politician fundamentally a bad person? To be looked at as an object of hate. What is a politician? He comes out of a due process of a democratic election. Let the people judge if this cynicism and this environment that is being created is good for Indian democracy."