{"id":85960,"date":"2019-05-05T16:30:26","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/?p=85960"},"modified":"2019-05-04T17:22:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-04T11:52:55","slug":"famous-indian-sports-personalities-who-joined-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/politics\/famous-indian-sports-personalities-who-joined-politics","title":{"rendered":"Famous Indian Sports Personalities who Joined Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Famous<\/a><\/p>\n

Politics has been influential in determining the future of various fields like education and sports in India. It is no hidden fact that in today’s turbulent times politics and sports are the two hot topics in our country. Currently, it seems like politics is emerging to be a new career option for retired athletes. At no time has this been more evident than in the 2019 election season, as there is a long list of sportsmen who have joined politics after making a successful career in sports. Gautam Gambhir and Vijendra Singh belong to this category of political hopefuls.<\/p>\n

Let’s explore more about other famous Indian players who have joined politics:<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

1. Navjot Singh Sidhu<\/h3>\n

\"Navjot<\/a><\/p>\n

Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu is well-known for his one-liners on television. He is capable of leaving viewers gobsmacked because of his commenting capability. Siddhu may have had an uneven career in sports but he is having a successful run in politics. Siddhu joined politics in 2004. He was elected two times as the Member of Parliament (MP) from Amristar East on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ticket. However, he switched to Congress in 2017 because he felt neglected in the BJP. Currently, he is serving as a minister in the Punjab State government.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Gautam Gambhir<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Gautam<\/a><\/p>\n

Gautam Gambhir recently launched himself into the political arena by joining Bharatiya Janata Party. He will be contesting the general elections from East Delhi via BJP’s ticket. The former cricketer has always been in the limelight because of his social work. What remains to be seen is how much support is provided to him by the people of Delhi, and what changes he will bring about if he wins the seat.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

3. Mohammad Azharuddin<\/h3>\n

\"Mohammad<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most sought after players in history, Mohammad Azharuddin is regarded as one of the most successful captains of the Indian Cricket Team. He represented India from 1984-2000 but the match-fixing saga associated with him put an end to his cricketing career. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh, Azharuddin began his political innings in 2009 by getting associated with the Indian National Congress (INC). He became a Member of Parliament after winning from Moradabad, UP in 2009. But his success was short lived as he was unable to win the next time in 2014. This time, in 2019, Azhar has disclosed his intention of contesting from Secunderabad Parliamentary Constituency.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Nafisa Ali<\/h3>\n

\"Nafisa<\/a><\/p>\n

Nafisa, a two times national swimming champion first switched to acting and then became a politician. She was also a jockey at the Calcutta Gymkhana in 1979. A woman of versatile talents, Nafisa made her debut in politics with a Trinamool Congress (TMC) ticket in 2004 Lok Sabha Elections. She switched to Samajwadi Party in 2009, but rejoined Congress later in the same year.<\/p>\n

5. Deepa Malik<\/h3>\n

\"Deepa<\/a><\/p>\n

Deepa Malik, a noted para-olympics athlete, has begun her political race with BJP. She has recently joined the party and maybe in reckoning for one of the seats in Haryana. Deepa has represented the country in Shot Put in 2016 Summer Paralympics, and was the first Indian female athlete to win a silver medal. At other international events, she has participated in Javelin too.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

6. Vijendra Singh<\/h3>\n

\"Vijendra<\/a><\/p>\n

Hailing from Haryana, Vijendra Singh is one of the most celebrated boxers in India. Singh won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, after which he gained a lot of recognition. He is currently a Congress candidate and is contesting from South Delhi. At present, Singh is extremely active in his political campaigning.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore<\/h3>\n

\"Rajyavardhan<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the most successful Indian athletes, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has also been one of the most successful Indian politicians. Rajyavardhan won India’s only medal at the Athens Olympics held in 2004. He secured a silver medal and later secured seven international gold medals in his career as a shooter. Rathore was also a colonel in the Indian Army from where he voluntarily opted for retirement. Rathore joined politics through a BJP ticket and contested from Jaipur (Rural). He came to the peak of his career as a politician when he was inducted as the Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting in 2014, and as a cabinet minister with a free charge for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in 2017.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Politics has been influential in determining the future of various fields like education and sports in India. It is no hidden fact that in today’s turbulent times politics and sports are the two hot topics in our country. Currently, it seems like politics is emerging to be a new career option for retired athletes. At […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":86100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11315,3],"tags":[2540,9399,5605,3],"class_list":{"0":"post-85960","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-india","8":"category-politics","9":"tag-gautam-gambhir","10":"tag-indian-sports-players","11":"tag-navjot-singh-sidhu","12":"tag-politics"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85960"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86102,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85960\/revisions\/86102"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mapsofindia.com\/my-india\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}