As per ANI, former cricketer, Gautam Gambhir was likely to join the BJP today and join he did. By joining the party, the former cricketer has officially started his political career. The Delhi-based former cricketer had announced his retirement in the month of December last year and now he has taken the leap towards an active political career.
Gautam Gambhir: I am joining this party(BJP) after getting influenced by PM Narendra Modi's vision. I am honoured to get the opportunity to join this platform pic.twitter.com/barD8XA7W9
— ANI (@ANI) March 22, 2019
There have been speculations of the veteran Indian opener joining the BJP for quite some time now. In fact, such speculations have been doing the rounds since the month of August last year itself. At the that time, it was reported that according to sources quoted by many news dailies, Gautam Gambhir was all set to join the BJP, and was most likely to contest in the Delhi assembly elections to be held in 2020. A similar report came up in the month of October last year as well. It was reported that the BJP was likely to give election tickets to cricketers Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the 2019 Parliamentary polls. The BJP was said to be in contact with both the cricketers and was also believed to be likely to field them from their respective states.
The speculations grew further in January this year, when the southpaw was asked about beginning a political career and he replied, “If people think that I’m good enough, and if I believe that I can make a change in this country, and if I feel that strongly and if I have the energy, I will definitely do something for the country to make it a better place. I will make sure that I do everything possible in my own capacity, and if you all (people of this country) believe that I should get into it (politics), I’ll definitely give it a thought.”
The former cricketer has been very active on Social Media and there have been a number of instances when he has severely criticised the present Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal on the prevailing issues such as misgovernance and increased pollution level. The former cricketer has also been pretty vocal about national issues.
Recently, Gambhir came to the rescue of an Army veteran. The cricketer shared a picture of the army veteran on Twitter and stated that he could not get support from the Army due to “technical reasons”. In his tweet, the cricketer further claimed, “He’s Mr. Peethambaran, who served in the Indian Army in 1965 &1971 wars which can be verified by his ID. He claims due to technical reasons he can’t get support from d Army”. He also urged the Defence Minister and Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army), to intervene into the matter. In a quick response to the tweet, the Defence Spokesperson assured complete support to the army veteran adding, “We appreciate the concern raised by you and assure that the response will be quick and complete”. In another tweet, Gambhir thanked the Defense Ministry on this quick response and further action without delay.
There have been reports about Gambhir joining the BJP for quite some time. His eloquent reaction to national and public issues also suggests that he has the necessary leadership skills. It is therefore going to prove to be a great asset for the BJP to have him start his career in active political with them.