Joined BJP to serve country with right intent, honesty: Gautam Gambhir

Former international cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who has joined the BJP on Friday, said he joined the party to serve the country with the right intent and honesty.

Taking to Twitter, Gambhir said, "I have joined @BJP4India to serve the country with the right intent and honesty. I hope through this I can make some meaningful difference to the lives of my people."

Gambhir joined the BJP earlier in the day, in the presence of Union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad. He even met party president Amit Shah after that.

"I am joining this party (BJP) after getting influenced by prime minister Narendra Modi's vision. I am honored to get the opportunity to join this platform," Gambhir said during the media interaction.

His joining BJP comes a day after BJP released its first list of 185 candidates on Thursday for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections beginning April 11 and concluding on May 19.

The counting of votes will take place on May 23.

The left-handed batsman was awarded Padma Shri on March 16. The player was instrumental in India's World-Cup winning squads. He played match-winning knocks in the T20 World Cup final in 2007 and 50 over World Cup in 2011.

The cricketer announced his retirement in the year 2018 after completing 10,000 runs in List-A cricket.