NEW DELHI: After protracted speculation about his political debut, former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir on Friday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad.The development, just before the upcoming parliamentary elections, assumes significance as a discussion over his possible candidature from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat on the party’s ticket had been ongoing for several months.   

Former Cricketer @GautamGambhir joins BJP in the presence of Union Ministers Shri @arunjaitley and Shri @rsprasad. pic.twitter.com/sDJOnSOLza

— BJP (@BJP4India) March 22, 2019

A senior state BJP leader said Gambhir is likely to be fielded from the New Delhi constituency. It is currently held by senior Supreme Court lawyer Meenakshi Lekhi.  After his induction, Gambhir said he was impressed by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and would work for the country’s welfare as a member of the party. The Padma Shri was recently conferred upon him.

Jaitley, terming his joining as an “important induction”, said the party will take a call at an appropriate time whether to field him in the Lok Sabha polls.Referring to Gambhir’s Delhi roots, the Union Finance Minister said the party would utilise his talent in the best way possible. “We consider this a prominent induction into the party.. I have full confidence that the party will use his talents,” Jaitley said. Later, Gambhir went to meet BJP chief Amit Shah.

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According to state BJP leaders, Jaitley, a former Vice President of the BCCI, was instrumental in bringing Gambhir to the party. Since hanging up his cricketing boots, Gambhir has often taken to Twitter criticizing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government. 

A Delhi BJP functionary, privy to the development, said Gambhir’s name did not figure in the list of probables, whose name were deliberated upon for seven constituencies by local unit’s election committee.
The leader further added as the state leadership had no role to play in cricketer’s induction in the party therefore any decision for Gambhir’s nomination will be taken by the Central leaders.Reacting to Gambhir’s joining; Lekhi said, “People from all quarters are joining BJP. We welcome them,” she said refusing to comment on whether she will be contesting from the New Delhi seat again.   

Shortlisted candidates

• New Delhi: Meenakshi Lekhi, Shyam Jaju, Rajesh Bhatia
• Chandni Chowk: Harsh Vardhan, Ravinder Gupta, Sudhanshu Mittal
• North East Delhi: Manoj Tiwari, Mohan Singh Bisht, Satya Sharma
• South Delhi: Ramesh Bidhuri, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Brahm Singh Tanwar
• West Delhi: Parvesh Verma, Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Pawan Sharma
• East Delhi: Maheish Girri, Aman Sinha, Satishw Uphadyay
• North West Delhi: Udit Raj, Anita Arya, Ashok Pardhan