19 years after the first season of the singing reality show Indian Idol, Amit Sana has accused the channel of allegedly blocking his voting lines two days before the season one finale, which aired on March 5, 2005, to make Abhijeet Sawant the winner of the show. While Amit was the runner-up of Indian Idol 1, Abhijeet Sawant was declared the winner.
Now, in an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Abhijeet Sawant has reacted to Amit Sana’s allegations. Sawant called Sana ‘naive’ and asked him to focus on his future rather than making “unfair” claims.
“He is very naive. I have been to many competitions. There are several reasons why you lose a competition. It is not just one thing. He should not forget that he was the runner-up. It wasn’t like we both were the only talented boys in the show, there were several other talented people in that competition,” Abhijeet Sawant told us.
“I feel, his people have conveyed such allegations to him and it can be sentimental also. It can be their own opinion also. The entire India was voting for us. How is it possible that one of us was getting votes and the other one wasn’t? Indian Idol 1 was also being monitored by the international team. I remember they used to be there on sets all the time,” the Indian Idol 1 winner added.
Abhijeet Sawant further said that this is not the first time when somebody has levelled such allegations against his Indian Idol win. “Such things keep happening. I remember there was a magazine which published my photo and wrote, ‘The show is rigged’. People are there to talk but as somebody who participated in the show, we should look at what we got from such shows and how we can take it forward rather than regretting about what was wrong,” he said.
Sawant also reacted to Sana’s claims that there was some ‘political influence’ behind his win. “I find it unfair to discuss such matters now,” he said and concluded by saying that such discussions almost two decades after the show make “no sense”.
