pride of the nation

ABHINAV Bindra, Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar are suddenly the toast of the
country and more than advertising agencies, it is the political class that seems
determined to milk them dry. The two Kumars arrived last week from Beijing and
did the mandatory photoops with the President, Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi
but before they could be whisked away, the Opposition swung into action. BJP MP
VK Malhotra who heads the country’s Archery Federation, Digvijay Singh, JD( U)
MP who is president of the National Rifle Association and Abhay Chautala, who
heads Boxing, convinced the jet- lagged boys it would be inappropriate not to
call on the PM- in- waiting. So, off they were herded to LK Advani’s Prithviraj
Road residence where they were introduced to Page 3 types who for a change were
washing down lassi. It was no different a fortnight earlier when Abhinav became
India’s first individual gold medalist.
Within five minutes of his feat,