The ace allrounder Ravindra Jadeja has been making the headlines with his recent joining the political party. Recently in a social media post of X, the wife of Ravindra Jadeja shared the news of the Indian cricketer joining the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Rivaba Jadeja who is also a BJP MLA from Gujarat, shared photos of her husband Ravindra Jadeja’s card as a BJP member.
The post captioned, “#Sadasyataabhiyaan”
It’s a BJP membership drive program that began on the 2nd of September.
🪷 #SadasyataAbhiyaan2024 pic.twitter.com/he0QhsimNK
— Rivaba Ravindrasinh Jadeja (@Rivaba4BJP) September 2, 2024
After the T20 World Cup 2024 triumph top Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja said his goodbye to the T20 International. By becoming a member of the BJP party, it looks like the cricketer has started a new career journey apart from cricket.
Well, Ravindra Jadeja is not the only cricketer who chose politics after retirement. Several Indian athletes turned into politicians.
Here is the list of the top 7 Indian Cricketers who turned into Politician
1.Manoj Tiwary – Trinamool Congress
Bengal’s Cricketer Manoj Tiwary who is now a junior minister is another name that successfully made it into politics. After hanging his boots in 2021, Manoj Tiwary joined the Trinamool Congress and became a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly after the victory in the elections. While playing in the Bengal domestic cricket team, Tiwary became the junior minister for youth services and sports in West Bengal. He rejoined the Bengal team ahead of the 2022-2023 Ranji Trophy and finally announced his retirement from cricket at the end of the 2023-2024 Ranji Trophy.
2. Gautam Gambhir – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
After retiring from all the International cricket format, Gautam Gambhir joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2019. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Gautam Gambhir contested as the candidate and became the MP from the East Delhi constituency. However, months ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, BJP MP Gautam Gambhir stepped down from the contest and decided to commit the cricket once again. He refused to get a ticket to defend his position but may remain an active member of the party. He then served as a mentor of the IPL 2024 champion KKR which ultimately led him to the success of the Indian head Coach position.
3. Navjot Singh Sidhu – Indian National Congress
Another cricketer turned politician is Navjot Singh Sidhu who joined the BJP in 2004 and became Parliament member twice from Amritsar.
He stayed with the BJP until 2013 and joined Congress in 2016. Ahead of the IPL 2024, Navjot Singh announced his departure from the Congress party as the former cricketer rejoined the Indian Premier League as a commentator.
4. Mohammed Kaif – Indian National Congress
India’s star batter Mohammed Kaif joined the Congress party and contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. With 58,000 votes, Kaif only came as 4th candidate in the General Elections from the Phulpur constituency in Allahabad. Later, Kaif put aside his political business as he expressed wanting to spend more time with his kids and family.
5. Mohammad Azharuddin – Indian National Congress
Former cricketer Mohammed Azaharuddin who was scarred by the match-fixing affair joined the Congress party in 2009. He won the Parliamentary elections and became the MP from the Moradabad constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The former star batsman made his comeback as an active party member in the 2023 2023 Assembly elections from Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad. Although he lost the elections to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s Maganti Gopinath by 16,000 votes.
6. Yusuf Pathan – Trinamool Congress
Former Indian allrounder Yusuf Pathan joined the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) ahead of the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. He became one of the 42 candidates as a TMC candidate from the Baharampur constituency in West Bengal. After retiring from cricket in 2021, Yusuf Pathan turned into a politician and became a TMC MP in the 18th Lok Sabha
7. Harbhajan Singh – Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
In 2022, India’s former off-spinner Harbhajan Singh joined the Aam Aadmi Party and became a member of the Punjab’s Rajya Sabha. He became MLA in the 2022 Punjab Legislative Assembly election and represented the Jandiala Assembly constituency as an AAP member.