Sehwag angling for BJP LS ticket?

Is Virender Sehwag seeking a Lok Sabha ticket from BJP for the 2019 general elections? Many a twitterati raised this question after the former India opener sparked a controversy with a tweet that unequivocally gave a communal angle to the lynching of a poor tribal man in Kerala. Sehwag called the incident “a disgrace to a civilised society”, but named only three people — all Muslims — as the accused but the police had arrested 16 people in connection with the killing. “Madhu stole 1 kg rice. A mob of Ubaid, Hussain and Abdul Kareem lynched the poor tribal man to death. This is a disgrace to a civilised society and I feel ashamed that this happens and kuch farak nahi padta,” Sehwag had tweeted. Sehwag, who has 16 million followers on twitter, was forced to pull the controversial tweet down as he faced a barrage of criticism for vilifying Muslims. Historian Ramachandra Guha, an ex-member of a court-appointed committee in BCCI, didn’t mince words while slamming Sehwag.

“Cherry pick names from a mixed crowd in Kerala; stay shamefully silent on the rash of hate crimes in your own state of Haryana. Once great cricketer, maybe: despicable human being, certainly. If he has an ounce of humanity left, Sehwag would delete his tweet,” Guha tweeted. Guha later appreciated Sehwag after he deleted the “hateful” tweet.  “He has thus shown his humanity; wish other stars in cricket, film, politics & (yes) academics would, when shown to be wrong, admit their own mistakes too! (sic)” he added.

It was not the first time Sehwag “batted” for the right-wing Hindutva forces. Last year, he was condemned for mocking a martyr’s daughter who was up in arms against ABVP. Sehwag’s proximity with finance minister Arun Jaitley is no secret. Last year, when voices were raised over Jaitley’s role in the DDCA scam, Sehwag was the first one to defend him. Sources close to Sehwag confirmed that his social media is handled by another person, but all the tweets go up only after Sehwag’s approval. Sehwag has been vocal on social media against various issues, but his silence on some of the issues related to the ruling party has raised many questions.

Tweets that speculated

Sibi@2026 @futurecmTN | Not many knows the names and religion of the murderers but how come Sehwag knew it? He may get a seat from BJP in the coming election #Sehwag communal

Shaila_anchan INC? @anchan_shaila | How low will Virender Sehwag stoop? Will he be rewarded a Bjp ticket for ‘communal’ tweet (sic).

Sreekanth? @skocharlakota | In 2004, he campaigned for BJP’s Sahib Singh Verma in Delhi. Arun Jaitley gave official bungalow for Sehwag’s wedding. Sehwag was first one to defend Jaitley’s role in DDCA scam. Lot of lands in Haryana. All that is left is — contesting elections in 2019. Warming up on Twitter (sic).

Sunny @indigokores | I Bet Sehwag will definitely fight Election on BJP ticket from #Haryana (sic).

Global Freethinker @feeethinker | Waiting for Sehwag to join BJP and stand for elections from Najafgarh. Then take on as minister of state for sports/Youth welfare. Mark my words, it’s happening (sic).