Tamil Nadu

‘BJP karyakarta helped CSK win’: Annamalai on Jadeja’s heroics in IPL final

While it is not clear whether Jadeja is a member of the BJP, there have been instances in the past where the cricketer has voiced his support for India’s ruling party.

Written by : TNM Staff

Even as fans of the Chennai Super Kings continue to celebrate their team winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) for a record fifth time, political undertones seem to come into play, after K Annamalai, the Tamil Nadu BJP president said that it was a “BJP karyakarta” who hit the winning run for the MS Dhoni-led team. Annamalai was referring to CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s final over heroics, which propelled the team to a 5-wicket victory against Gujarat Titans to win the 16th edition of the IPL. 

CSK needed 13 runs to win in the final over of the match on May 29, which went on till the early hours May 30, owing to multiple disruption due to rain. The equation came down to CSK needing 10 runs needed from 2 balls, with Jadeja on strike. The all-rounder from Rajkot hit a six and four in the next two balls to ensure that his team got their hand on the coveted shield yet again. 

While fans took to social media to celebrate the victory, several supporters of Tamil Nadu’s ruling DMK used the opportunity to take a dig at the BJP by referring to CSK’s win as victory of the Dravidian model over the Gujarat model. When the News 18 anchor questioned Annamalai on this, the BJP leader said that it was a BJP karyakarta who hit the winning run for CSK. 

“Jadeja is a BJP karyakarta and he is from Gujarat. His wife is a BJP MLA. I am also proud as a Tamilian. There were more Tamil people in GT than in CSK and I will celebrate that as well,” said Annamalai. 

The IPS officer-turned-politician also lauded the performance of young Sai Sudarshan, who hails from Tamil Nadu but plays for GT in the IPL. “96 runs were scored by a Tamilian, we will celebrate that also. Not a single Tamilian played in CSK. But we still celebrate CSK because of MS Dhoni. We are proud that the winning run was scored by a BJP karyakarta,” he said. 

While it is not clear whether Jadeja is a member of the BJP, there have been instances in the past where the cricketer has voiced his support for India’s ruling party. His wife Rivaba Jadeja contested the Gujarat assembly elections in 2022 on a BJP ticket from Jamnagar North constituency. She won the elections by a thumping margin of more than 80,000 votes to become an MLA. 

It was in 2019 that Rivaba Jadeja officially joined the BJP, shortly after which the Indian cricketer even put out a tweet saying, “I support BJP”.

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