Following the announcement of his retirement, cricketer Harbhajan Singh has stated that he planned to be of service to the Indian Punjab, possibly through politics.
According to a report in The Quint, Singh hinted that he might become a politician. He claimed to be acquainted with politicians of every party, and stated that he would announce prior to becoming part of a political party.
He said that he would help Punjab, possibly through politics or some other manner and he hadn’t decided about this for now, the report cited news agency ANI as saying.
Singh’s announcement comes at a time when his fellow Punjabi cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Sidhu has already made a name for himself as a successful politician in the Indian state of Punjab.
Sidhu’s profile as a media celebrity following his retirement from cricket also played a role in enlarging his political profile in Punjab. In fact, until Sidhu’s recent resignation as the head of the Congress in Punjab prior to his efforts at ousting the longtime Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh from the position, Sidhu was even being touted as a possible successor to Amarinder Singh as chief minister.
The example of Sidhu, and the vacuum now created with the resignation of Sidhu, may have come as an encouragement to Harbhajan Singh to mull a career as a politician in Punjab.
Harbajhan is a Sikh and Sikhs as the largest ethnic group in Punjab have continued to play a role in the politics and society of the province since partition in 1947.
Members of the Sikh ethno-religious group also played a major role in protests by farmers from Punjab against the proposed amendments and reforms in agricultural laws by New Delhi.
Farmers kept New Delhi at bay for a whole year until the Modi government announced last month that it would listen to the farmers’ longstanding demands and not go ahead with the proposed amendment in legislation.
