Gujarat Assembly election 2022: Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja and his wife and BJP leader Rivaba Jadeja on Monday attended an event in Jamnagar that has been organised ahead of the filing of nomination for the upcoming elections. Rivaba will contest from Jamnagar North and file her nomination today.
Speaking to media persons, cricketer Jadeja said It's her (Rivaba Jadeja) first time as an MLA candidate and she'll learn a lot.
“I hope she will progress in politics. She is of helping nature and has always wanted to help people and hence joined politics. She wants to follow the path of PM Modi to work for the people,” he added.
Cricket & Politics in India
The entry of Jadeja’s wife into politics reminded us the connection between cricket and polity. India has seen a couple of cricketers and their kin who tried their luck in politics. However, politics is altogether a different ball game that requires a totally different set of skills. In our neighboring country Pakistan, a former cricketer Imran Khan achieved the top post (Prime Minister) of his country but in India as of now, we have not seen a cricketer or his kin getting so much success in politics. The past record shows, cricketers might be successful to perform well on playgrounds but they did not meet the people’s expectations on political turf.
Sachin Tendulkar entered Parliament but he faced a lot of criticism for their non-activeness in Parliamentary issues.
Former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin was Lok Sabha Member on Congress ticket from 2009 to 2014 from Moradabad constituency but letter he was denied a ticket from his constituency. Currently, he is Working President of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.
Former cricketer Kirti Azad, son of Bhagwat Jha Azad, former Bihar chief minister, was elected to Parliament on BJP ticket from Darbhanga. He served his second term in the Lok Sabha representing Darbhanga. He also represented Delhi's Gole Market constituency as an MLA in the national capital assembly. However, he shifted his political position from BJP to Congress to TMC. In February 2019, Azad joined Congress and later moved to Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) on November 23, 2021.
Former Mohammad Kaif joined Congress and contested 2014 Lok Sabha election from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, but he lost to BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Former pacer S Sreesanth joined BJP on 25 March 2016 and contested in Kerala Assembly elections from Thiruvananthapuram. But he lost in the election to Congress leader VS Sivakumar.
No wonder, if in the coming days former captain Saurav Ganguly join politics as recently West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee backed him publicly when Ganguly was not given a second term as BCCI chief.
Also Read: Gujarat elections: Ravindra Jadeja thanks PM Modi for giving his wife ticket from Jamnagar North
