Earlier, reports stated Gambhir was set to contest for the in the general elections from Delhi.

On Monday, the BJP announced that Gautam Gambhir and Meenakshi Lekhi would be contesting from East Delhi and New Delhi Lok Sabha Constituencies respectively.

Gambhir had joined BJP last month. There's a very interesting battle on the cards with Gambhir taking on Congress' Arvinder Singh Lovely and AAP's Aatishi Marlena.

Cricketer-turned-politician Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday held a roadshow here ahead of filling his nomination papers as the BJP Lok Sabha candidate from East Delhi.Amid loud cheers, Gambhir waved to hundreds of people during the roadshow.

"I really want to contribute something to the country and whatever our Prime Minister has done in the last five years. I want to take that legacy forward. I will try to work as much as I can with an honest heart and clear intentions," Gambhir told ANI.

A Padma Shri awardee, Gambhir joined the BJP on March 22 in the presence of Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.



In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, BJP's Mahesh Giri had defeated AAP's Rajmohan Gandhi by a margin of 1,90,463 votes from East Delhi seat.Meanwhile, Lekhi, a sitting MP from New Delhi, had defeated Congress' Ajay Maken by a margin of 1,62,708 votes in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from the same constituency.

Delhi will go to polls on May 12 for the seven Lok Sabha seats at stake. The counting of votes will take place on May 23

Gambhir, who enjoys a solid army of admirers, isn’t the first Indian cricketer to join politics. The likes of Mohammad Azharuddin and Navjot Singh Sidhu have gone down that road too among others. The 36-year-old has been a part of two World Cup-winning Indian teams. He has played 58 Test matches and 147 ODIs for the country in a glittering career.

With ANI input