Cricketer S. Sreesanth says he is ready for a political role. The former India player told The Hindu that he has agreed to contest the Assembly elections as a BJP candidate.
“I have an invitation from the BJP to contest from either Thripunitura or Ernakulam. My preference is Thripunitura,” he told The Hindu over telephone on Tuesday.
Asked if Sreesanth’s name was being considered for the Assembly election, Kummanam Rajasekharan, State president of the BJP, said that many prominent personalities were being considered as party candidates in various constituencies.
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“No official talks have been held at the State-level about fielding Sreesanth. I am not aware whether he had got an invitation from the Central leadership,” he said.
Asked why he wanted to associate with the BJP, Mr. Sreesanth said that many people of that party had stood by him during tough times. “It was not people from the Hindu community alone, but several others who had helped me recover from my setbacks. I had also learnt a lot from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and have high respect for him,” he said.
Exuding confidence that he would be able to perform well as a politician, Mr. Sreesanth claimed that he was looking forward to the chance to serve the people. “Kerala has an amazing pool of young talent who need to come to the political arena. There are many youngsters who say they are not interested in politics. That should change,” he said.
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Mr. Sreesanth said that he was not motivated by sports personalities like Sachin Tendulkar getting a chance to be a legislator. “If even a 25-year-old could become a CEO of a company now, why can’t young people enter politics and serve the people efficiently,” he asked.