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NEW DELHI: Sports and politics often make an unwholesome mix. It was no different when sports minister M S Gill tried to suggest to India's "goldfinger" Abhinav Bindra that while he should call on Congress president Sonia Gandhi, it was not necessary to visit Leader of Opposition L K Advani. Gill, who chaperoned Bindra around the Capital after he returned with his gold medal from Beijing, suggested that the champion call on Sonia after meeting President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee. The gold medallist's family is understood to have wondered whether leaders of political parties should also be on Bindra's calling list. As it is, the reasons for calling on the Speaker were not entirely clear, even though the air rifle champ did so despite there seeming to be no protocol requirement. Gill was understood to be keen on Bindra calling on Sonia but when it was felt that it would be appropriate to also visit Advani, the minister was not very pleased. It is believed that Bindra's family felt that it would only be proper to call on the Leader of Opposition if India's first individual gold medallist was to go to 10, Janpath. The shooter's father, A S Bindra, contacted his old acquaintance, BJP MP from South Delhi V K Malhotra, and sought an appointment with Advani. The incident perhaps indicates that politicians do not always find it easy to avoid partisanship. Or, was it that Gill was just being careful, worried that Bindra calling on Advani might be seen as his lapse. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Gill_to_Bindra_Visi t_Sonia_not_Advani/articleshow/3372082.cms

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