Never aspired to be a part-time MP: Sehwag takes jibe at fellow cricketers

Taking a veiled jibe at fellow cricketers-turned-politicians, former India opener Virender Sehwag on Tuesday said he has no aspirations of being a “part-time MP” while revealing that was approached by “both major parties” in the past two elections.

Sehwag’s comment comes just a day after his ex-India and Delhi colleague Gautam Gambhir, a BJP MP, found himself in the middle of a controversy following an obscene gesture to a section of the crowd in Pallekele during India’s Asia Cup match.

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Responding to a tweet which mentioned that Sehwag should have been an MP before Gautam Gambhir, the explosive opening batter, who retired from all forms of cricket in 2015, said sports personalities should refrain from entering politics, suggesting that the ones who do so are there only for “ego and hunger for power”.

“I am not at all interested in politics. Have been approached by both major parties in the last two elections. My view is that most entertainers or sportsmen should not enter politics as most are there for their own ego and hunger for power and barely spare genuine time for people; few are exceptions, but generally, most only do PR,” he said.

“I love being involved with cricket and commentating, and being a part-time MP whenever convenient is not something I ever aspire for,” he mentioned in the same tweet.

https://x.com/virendersehwag/status/1698981803972046951?s=20

Sehwag’s remarks have fuelled a broader debate in India about the role of celebrities and sports stars in politics. There have been numerous sporting stars from across disciplines taking up politics after hanging up their boots.

His former India opening partner Gambhir, who is on commentary assignment for the ongoing Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, on Tuesday came out in defence of his act saying that those in the stands were chanting anti-India slogans. The World Cup-winning opening batter put out a tweet on the issue.

“A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes. Not everything is as it seems. Any Indian would react how I did to the kind of slogans used against our nation. I love our players; I love my country,” Gambhir wrote on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter).