Being a sportsperson and then entering politics has become a safe retirement plan for many Indian sportspersons.
Politics give them a chance to join and enter elections due to their popularity and fame. Everyone across India admires Indian sportspersons a lot.
Also, these sportspersons are joining the political parties which justifies their thoughts and opinions. Political parties mostly pay them huge amounts to attract them towards their party to ensure their vote bank.
Here’s The List Of Sportspersons Who Became Politicians In India
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Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore
Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore was a double trap shooter and among the most successful Indian athlete who became a politician.
In 2004, he won the silver medal at Olympics and seven international gold medals in his overall shooting career. Col. Rathore took voluntary retirement from the Indian Army and later joined BJP.
He became Cabinet minister in Modi’s government in 2014, as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting. In 2017, he became the minister in Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.
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Mohammad Azharuddin
He was among successful captains in the Indian cricket team and a biopic named ‘Azhar’ lead him to become more popular.
He has a record of scoring 9378 ODI runs in 334 ODIs. He switched to his political career in 2009 and represented Congress in the elections from Moradabad and became a member of parliament.
Andhra High Court lifted the life ban on Azharuddin in 2012.
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Gautam Gambhir
Former Indian cricketer recipient of Padma Shri joined BJP in 2019 and represented the party in Lok Sabha polls. Gautam Gambhir participated in the Lok Sabha elections 2019 from the east Delhi seat of Bhartiya Janata Party and decide dead Arvinder Singh, a Congress candidate by more than 3 lac votes.
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Saina Nehwal
Saina Nehwal joined BJP on 29 January 2020. Saina Nehwal Badminton champion who became the first woman to rank as world number 1 and Prime Minister Modi congratulated Saina and addressed that she is a hardworking person and will work towards the betterment for our country
Saina Nehwal was awarded Padma Bhushan in 2016.
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Babita Phogat
Wrestle Babita Phogat and her father Mahavir Singh Phogat joined BJP on 12 August 2019. Babita is a gold medalist in Commonwealth games.
Babita Phogat and Mahavir Singh Phogat became more popular after their biopic named as ‘Dangal’ reached the audience.
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Navjot Singh Sidhu
Navjot Singh Sidhu, former Indian cricketer played 51 tests for the Indian cricket team and made his debut in 1983. He represented the team in 134 ODIs and moved ahead in the commentary box and became a famous commentator, who was branded as ‘Sidhuism’ by his fans.
He jumped and joined BJP in 2004 and won the Lok Sabha elections twice. He was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab before he resigned from BJP in 2016. Then, he joined Indian National Congress and was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly from Amritsar east in 2017.
Finally, he made his own party named ‘Awaaz-e-Punjab.
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Kirti Azad
Kirti was a part of the World Cup-winning team 1983 and played 7 Tests and 25 ODI for India. Later he started participating in news chat shows and post-match discussions and debates.
He was an MLA from Delhi’s Gole Market Constituency. In 2014, he won the Lok Sabha elections from Darbhanga and was a part of BJP. However, currently, he has been suspended from BJP.
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Vijendra Singh
Vijendra Singh joined Indian National Congress in the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
Vijendra Singh lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri with huge margins.
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Mary Kom
Mary Kom is a gold medalist who was nominated by the BJP led government and in 2016 became a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Currently, she is the Member of the parliament. She is the eight-time World Champion in boxing.
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Sandeep Singh
Sandeep Singh is a former Indian hockey captain.
In 2019, he joined BJP with Indian wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as a health advice. We would ask you to consult a qualified professional or medical expert to gain additional knowledge before you choose to consume any product or perform any exercise.
