IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal to contest Rajya Sabha polls

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has named Indian Premier League chairman Ranjib Biswal as their official party candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Biswal, who succeeded Rajeev Shukla as the IPL chairman in 2013, is also chairman of National Cricket Academy and president of Odisha Cricket Association. Biswal, a former India under-19 captain, is an ex-Congress MP from Jagatsinghpur, Odisha.

The 43-year-old Biswal will take on BJD-party supported independent candidate Padmabhushan Raghunath Mahapatra, an eminent sculptor. Biswal is the son of former Odisha deputy Chief Minister, late Basant Kumar Biswal.

At the age of 25, Biswal won the Lok Sabha election from Jagatsinghpur in 1995 and became one of the youngest MPs India has ever had. He, in fact, won two Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate from Jagatsinghpur. He is a lucky charm for Indian cricket, having been the media manager on several assignments with MS Dhoni and Company. Biswal was media manager when India won the 2011 ICC World Cup in Mumbai.