Former Indian Pace Bowler S Sreesanth on Tuesday said he has been offered a BJP ticket to contest the May 16 Kerala assembly elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party is yet to open its account in the 140-member Kerala assembly. “I will announce my candidature tomorrow. I have been offered a ticket by the BJP to contest either from Ernakulam or Tripunithura constituency. I wish to contest from Tripunithura,” Sreesanth told the media today in Bengaluru.
If Sreesanth decides to contest the elections, he is likely to fight against state Excise Minister and Congress leader K Babu for Thrippunithura seat in Ernakulam district. He said he hailed from a family with leftist leanings while his wife’s family supports the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Sreesanth was banned for life by the Board of Control for Cricket in India after fixing allegations. He last played in the 2013 Indian Premier League. He was arrested on the charge of match-fixing and was lodged in Tihar Jail in Delhi.
Wait for a day,you will know from where I contest-Sreesanth on reports of him contesting elections from Eranakulam pic.twitter.com/2D3lfF5W1A
— ANI (@ANI_news) March 22, 2016
While his parents are settled in Ernakulam in Kerala, he keeps shuttling between Bengaluru and Kochi. Sreesanth was part of two World Cup-winning teams, in the 2007 World Twenty20 and the 2011 World Cup. Sreesanth is considered one of the best fast bowlers to emerge from Kerala in the last two decades.