Kerala polls: BJP leaders were in touch with Sreesanth since last two years, claims his father-in-law

Bhopal: Former cricketer S Sreesanth's father-in-law Hirendra Singh Shekhawat dismissed reports that his proximity with senior Sangh leader Indresh Kumar helped the ex-pacer bag a ticket from BJP for upcoming Kerala Assembly polls.

Infact, Shekhawa claimed that the BJP leadership in the state was in touch with Sreesanth since last two years.

On March 25, BJP leadership announced that Sreesanth will be contesting the Kerala Assembly elections on BJP ticket from Thiruvananthapuram seat.

Reportedly, BJP is eyeing big gains in Kerala this time and has its eyes set to attract the youth vote with the cricketer's entry into its squad.

Sreesanth's father-in-law Shekhawat however confirms that he introduced the cricketer to former state BJP unit president few years back.

"I had introduced Sreesanth to former Kerala BJP president V Muraleedharan two years ago. It so happened that one day I met Muraleedharan in Kerala and he talked to me about my son-in-law and evinced keen interest in him," he told PTI.

He added that Sreesanth had since then frequent meetings with Murleedharan and other senior BJP leaders after which he decided to join the saffron party.

BCCI had slapped life bans on Sreesanth and spinner Ankeet Chavan for allegedly being involved in the IPL spot-fixing scam in 2013. However, Sreesanth's name was cleared by a court in a match-fixing case.