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Mumbai: Twenty-six-year-old badminton player Jwala Gutta, the woman being blamed for Sangeeta Bijlani reportedly walking out of her 14-year-old marriage to former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin, is angry. ‘‘I am disgusted by the reports,’’ she told TOI in a phone interview from Hyderabad. ‘‘It possibly makes a good story but everything about it is false and baseless. How am I involved if Sangeeta has gone back to Mumbai? How does it matter to me?’’

    Jwala said the rumours began a month ago. ‘‘I know they are being spread by people from the badminton association because I am not on good terms with them,’’ she said. Asked if Azhar’s decision to contest the association’s polls could have led to this, she said, ‘‘Yes, that is the reason.’’

Reports linking me to Jwala disgusting: Azhar

Mumbai: Indian badminton star Jwala Gutta, ranked No.7 in the world in mixed doubles, has blasted reports suggesting she was having an affair with former cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin.

Azharuddin, now an MP from Moradabad, also poohpoohed the reports, saying his bid for the badminton body was being given an unhealthy twist. He described Jwala as a ‘‘good friend’’ and the reports as ‘‘disgusting and in bad taste’’.

There have been reports that she and Azhar have been often spotted together and were also seen coming out together from Indian coach Pullela Gopichand’s academy. Jwala denied that as well. ‘‘I go to the academy to practice and not to meet anyone,’’ she said. Asked about her presence at the practice session for Azhar’s son, she said: ‘‘His son is almost my age and we are friends. Besides, the last time I went for his practice session was three years ago.’’

    Asked if she had spoken to Sangeeta about the rumours and if she knew where Azhar was presently, she said, ‘‘No, I have not spoken to anyone. Besides, I don’t keep track of where anyone is.’’ Jwala is married to national badminton champion Chetan Anand. ‘‘These reports have affected my family, and we all are disturbed,’’ she said.

    Azhar’s brother-in-law Rehman confirmed that Sangeeta was currently in Mumbai but rubbished the rumours about a split. ‘‘There is no truth in them and there is no problem in the marriage,’’ he said.

    Meanwhile, Azharuddin told a news agency: “These reports are completely rubbish, baseless and are in bad taste. I am very hurt by all these. I know Jwala, she is a good friend of mine and to write such reports, which are completely false and fabricated, is disgusting,” a livid Azharuddin said.

    Azhar said these are motivated by people in the Badminton Association of India, who want to tarnish his image since he tried to contest for the presidential elections last month. “These are planted stories and motivated by people, who are against me in the Badminton Association of India. I think they should look into their homes first before casting aspersions on others and make such allegations,” he said. “Jwala is a very good player and she is a great prospect for the country. She has been doing well and will win many medals for the country in future. So I just want to request everybody to just leave her alone and not get her into this cheap controversy,” he added.

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If rumours are true, Azharuddin and Sangeeta are heading for Splitsville

One more celebrity marriage is heading for a split if the buzz iscorrect. Mohammad Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani are all set to go their separate ways – in fact, news is that the cricket baddie will be filing for a divorce within the next week. The 14-year marriage has been rocked by a 26 year old – Jwala Gutta, World No 7 mixed doubles badminton player, who, it’s being whispered, has caught Azhar’s eye. The fact that Jwala, an Arjuna awardee, is married to another badminton champ, Chetan Anand, doesn’t seem to have mattered to the 47-year-old former India skipper and Congress MP from Moradabad.

    Both Azhar and Sangeeta refused to comment, but neither denied the imminent split either. Jwala had, in an earlier interview, told us when asked about her link-up with Azhar, “I heard about it from friends. I could not help but laugh over it. Azhar and I have known each other for the past eight years. My family knows his entire family. You see, I am an outspoken girl. If I had an affair with anyone, I would not hide it.”

    Meanwhile, Azhar’s loyalists in Hyderabad say that the whole thing is an attempt to keep him away from the Andhra Pradesh Badminton Association.

Jwala rebuts Azhar link-up
   

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Aurangabad, Mumbai: Four days after he landed in Maharashtra to inspect the Babhli dam site near Dharmabad and sought to whip up passions over the project, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu was finally packed off to Andhra Pradesh along with his supporters on Tuesday evening. His departure followed the withdrawal of cases against him by the state government.

In the end, it was a face-saver for both. Naidu had failed to make any significant impact back home with his politically motivated trip to Nanded and his subsequent arrest. The state government, too, seemed to have burnt its finger by acting unnecessarily tough and slapping cases against him and his supporters. On Monday evening, it had even decided to shift Naidu to Aurangabad’s Harsul prison after his magisterial custody was extended till July 26.

“I will return to Babhli dam to continue my agitation. The government of Maharashtra is illegally constructing the dam,” Naidu said before boarding the chartered plane amid high drama.
Earlier, he and his 66 supporters were transported in an air-conditioned Volvo luxury bus from Dharmabad to Aurangabad, 300km away. On arrival at Aurangabad, the convoy proceeded straight to the airport, surprising Naidu, who was expecting to be taken to the Harsul prison. Naidu and his group refused to board the plane for nearly 90 minutes before the police compelled him to board the plane.

At Dharmabad, Naidu had refused to board the police van and kicked it saying that he would not sit in the shabby vehicle as it was not befitting his status. The district administration then organised the luxury buses.

The TDP chief insisted that he would not return to Andhra Pradesh without visiting Babhli and accused the Maharashtra administration of using force against him.

Earlier in the day in Mumbai, home minister RR Patil started the process of withdrawing the cases filed by the state police at Dharmabad against Naidu. “We have taken the decision to withdraw all the cases against Naidu that led to his arrest. He is free to travel anywhere except the Babhli dam site,” he said. Patil justified the decision by saying, “For how many days should we keep him in the jail? After all it was a political agitation.”

Chief minister Ashok Chavan, who was in touch with his Andhra counterpart K Rosaiah, used mediators to talk to Naidu to break the impasse. “A senior leader in UPA, who is close to Naidu, impressed upon him that his agitation beyond a point was not going to serve any purpose.”

Aurangabad remained tense as activists of the Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena held demonstrations outside the Harsul jail and shouted slogans in Telugu condemning Naidu.

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A reply to an RTI query by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare revealed that the southern states have the largest number of sex workers, at least on government records. Andhra Pradesh leads the list with more than one lakh registered female sex workers while Karnataka has 79,000. These two states are followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Interesting, there is not a single sex worker as per government records in Dadra and Nagar Haveli as well as Daman and Diu. Jammu and Kashmir has the least number of registered sex workers -- 259.

Among the metros, Delhi leads the list. Though the capital has only one known red light area, GB Road, there are 37,900 sex workers -- more than those in India's financial capital, Mumbai.

There are a whopping 6,88,751 "registered" sex workers in the country and it's not mandatory for them to have a health certificate on sexually transmitted diseases.

Experts say a large number of sex workers in the country go undetected in government records. Naco estimates the total number of sex workers in India to be 12.63 lakh. 

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