Elections 2019: BJP fields ex-cricketer Gautam Gambhir from East Delhi

Gautam Gambhir

Bharatiya Janata Party announced on Monday that former cricketer Gautam Gambhir will be contesting the Lok Sabha election from the East Delhi constituency while BJP parliamentarian Meenakshi Lekhi will be contesting from the New Delhi constituency.

Gautam Gambhir during a roadshow in Delhi. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

According to the second list of candidates released by the BJP, politician-turned-cricketer has replaced Maheish Girri as the party's candidate and will compete against Congress candidate Arvinder Singh Lovely, and AAP candidate Atishi.

Gambhir had joined the party on March 22 in the presence of Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, saying that he was impressed by the vision of PM Modi and will work towards the welfare of the country.

Gautam Gambhir snapped during his rally in Delhi. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

He said, "I have been influenced by the PM, his vision for the country. This is a fabulous platform for me to do something for the country."

The second list of candidates released by the BJP retains all four MPs Manoj Tiwari, BJP state unit president, has been again given the ticket from North East Delhi, while Pravesh Verma and Ramesh Bidhur will be contesting from West Delhi and South Delhi respectively.

Gautam Gambhir waves at the crowd during a roadshow to file his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha elections as BJP candidate from East Delhi. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

Meanwhile, Lekhi, BJP parliamentarian from New Delhi, had defeated Congress leader Ajay Maken by a margin of 1,62,708 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the same constituency.

Also Read: Elections 2019: Gautam Gambhir to contest from East Delhi, Here's how Twitter reacts

Delhi will go to polls on May 12 for the seven Lok Sabha seats at stake. The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also, download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates