Don’t miss the latest developments in business and finance.

Debutants Vijender and Gambhir latest sportspersons to enter electoral fray from Delhi

Image
Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Apr 23 2019 | 8:10 PM IST

Former cricketer Gautam Gambhir and Olympic bronze medallist Vijender Singh are the latest to enter the electoral fray from Delhi, which in the past has seen several sports personalities try their luck in politics with varying degrees of success.

Gambhir, the top scorer of the final matches of the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup -- both were bagged by India -- will contest from East Delhi.

Singh, the first Indian male boxer to win a world championship medal, also happens to be the only active sportsman to have contested from the national capital, is in fray from South Delhi.

Former cricketer Kirti Azad, who quit the BJP to join the Congress early this year, entered the electoral fray from Gole Market assembly seat in 1993 Delhi Assembly polls.

Kirti, son of former Bihar chief minister Bhagwat Jha Azad, contested Lok Sabha polls and was elected in 1999, 2009 and 2014.

Azad is now contesting on a Congress ticket from Dhanbad in Jharkhand.

More From This Section

Former test cricketer Chetan Chauhan found little luck in politics.

Chauhan, who played 40 Tests and seven One Day Internationals, contested from East Delhi constituency in 2009, but lost to Congress' Sandeep Dikshit by over 2 lakh votes.

Veteran BJP leader from Delhi Vijay Kumar Malhotra was the senior vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association and the acting president of the Indian Olympic Association.

Having won both assembly and the Lok Sabha polls from Delhi, was also associated with the organisation of the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. In October 2015, Malhotra was named as the chairman of the All Indian Council Of Sports (AICS), and was given the post of a minister of state.

Malhotra is also the president of the General Association of National Sports Federations and was the chief of the Archery Association of India for the last four decades.

Also Read

First Published: Apr 23 2019 | 8:10 PM IST

Next Story