Time for Sreesanth to court votes, not trouble

Thiruvananthapuram: BJP’s S. Sreesanth has been trying some ‘cricket tactics’ to overawe his political opponents in the  Thiruvananthapuram central constituency.  Mr V. S. Sivakumar of the Congress and Mr Antony Raju of  Democratic Kerala Congress have found no answer to Sree’s powerful balls on the field.  During the weekdays,  Sree does normal door-to-door campaigns and attends conventions, but during the weekends, he is in his elements playing friendly matches in coastal areas to win over the voters.

Compared to the others, Sreesanth was a bit late  in  electioneering, but he has picked up momentum now.  Last week, he batted with the local lads  at Madhavapuram LP School grounds at Veli.  A BJP source told DC that  he could connect with the locals who included both voters and  minors.

“Though Sree played only for a few minutes, the  lads were thrilled to play  with the former Indian cricket player. If BJP had lagged behind in the Lok Sabha elections in Thiruvananthapuram in 2014, it was mostly in coastal areas which we are trying to make up now,” said a BJP leader.

The BJP camp feels that Sreesanth would be able to garner  more youth votes. On Sunday, he was invited to inaugurate a cricket tournament organised by Vallakkadavu arts and sports club here. Though he was not sporting cricket gear,  he batted and bowled in front of the young spectators.   Sreesanth also interacted with footballers who came for practice match at University Stadium here on Monday.