Kambli, who was born and brought up in a chawl in Mumbai, is contesting the October election as a candidate of an unheard Lok Bharati Party, which is a part of the Republican Left Democratic Front.
He travelled in a local train to his constituency from Sion in central Mumbai where he stays, and filed his nomination in the presence of his supporters. “I started my first inning as a cricketer from a train in 1985. I used to go for cricket matches in a train.
“So I wanted to start my second inning, too, from there (train); I am travelling in a train after maybe 12-15 years,” Kambli said.
The left-handed batsman appealed to the voters to vote for him as a politician and not as a cricketer.
“I want to keep cricket and politics separately and work for the welfare of the people,” he said.
Asked if his childhood friend Sachin Tendulkar would campaign for him, Kambli replied in negative. “Sachin is busy with cricket but his wishes are always with me.”
“My three agendas are education, health and sports. I am going to work on them and will definitely give time for them,” said Kambli when asked about his agenda.
Only recently, Kambli had declared the launch of a new sports academy in colla
boration with journalist Dwarkanath Sanzgiri.
The Third Front parties like the Samajwadi Party, the RPI, the Janata Dal and other Left parties have expressed their support to Kambli.
