Politics

Boxer Vijender Singh ditches Congress to join BJP, calls it ‘ghar wapsi’

April 3, 2024

New Delhi: Boxer Vijender Singh, an Olympic bronze medallist, ditched the Congress in a surprise move Wednesday, barely 24 hours after sharing a post by Rahul Gandhi that displayed a video of a woman questioning the Narendra Modi government’s performance.

The post shared by Gandhi featured a woman slamming the BJP over an advertisement that claimed Modi “stopped a war” and said he “evacuated stranded Indians”.

“This time the ‘Papa of Propaganda’ won’t be successful, the public itself is ready to show him the mirror,” Gandhi said in his post, shared by Singh.

Singh’s somersault within 24 hours, therefore, came as a bolt from the blue.

The boxer had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate from South Delhi. His name was also doing the rounds as the party’s candidate from Mathura to take on actress and sitting BJP MP Hema Malini.

However, after Singh joined the BJP, a senior leader said he would be utilised in Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan since the boxer came from the Jat community, which has political influence over a large number of seats in these states.

On 30 March, Singh had posted one line on X leading to speculation about his alliance with the Congress. He wrote, “Wherever the public wants, I am ready.”

However, the guesswork abated Tuesday when the Haryana boxer shared Gandhi’s video that sought to counter a BJP advertisement about Indian students being brought out of a war-torn zone. It shows one woman, playing a student, returning to her parents waiting at the airport and telling them Modi would always rescue them from any situation.

The video showed a woman mocking the original, questioning why “Papa” could not give employment to the youth, or stop the ethnic clashes in Manipur.

 

Pitting a boxer against wrestlers

Vijender Singh’s induction is likely to boost the BJP’s chances in Haryana, where it has been on the back foot after the protest by prominent wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, demanding that BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh be arrested over sexual harassment charges.

In 2023, Singh had also participated in their sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar.

Singh is a Beijing Olympic Games bronze medallist and has also won silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Soon after joining the BJP in the presence of BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Singh said: “I am joining the BJP today and this is like a ghar wapsi (homecoming) for me. I had contested the elections in 2019. There’s a saying in English… It is good to be back. The way sportspersons are getting respect in the country and abroad now is commendable. When we would go abroad to fight earlier, to the UK and Dubai, for instance, certain things would happen at the airports sometimes. But since the BJP and the Modi government came to power, it has become really easy for us to travel abroad.”

Singh also thanked Modi and the BJP government for the respect that “sportspersons get under this government”.

“I have joined the BJP in the interest of the nation and to serve the people. Mai desh ka bhala karna chahta hu. I want to help more and more people,” he said.

When asked about the recent wrestlers’ protest against the BJP government, Singh said: “As I said, I will continue to call wrong as wrong and right as right and will work towards strengthening athletes.”

“I would like to be a part of this government, help people and show them the right path,” he said, adding, “I am the same Vijender and will call a spade a spade.”

Tawde said Singh had joined the BJP to “fulfil the pledge of a Viksit Bharat under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

Also read: ‘No faith in Congress’ state leadership’ — why Shivraj Patil’s daughter-in-law Archana joined BJP

Soon after joining the BJP in the presence of BJP national general secretary Vinod Tawde, Singh said: “I am joining the BJP today and this is like a ghar wapsi (homecoming) for me. I had contested the elections in 2019. There’s a saying in English… It is good to be back. The way sportspersons are getting respect in the country and abroad now is commendable. When we would go abroad to fight earlier, to the UK and Dubai, for instance, certain things would happen at the airports sometimes. But since the BJP and the Modi government came to power, it has become really easy for us to travel abroad.”

Singh also thanked Modi and the BJP government for the respect that “sportspersons get under this government”.

“I have joined the BJP in the interest of the nation and to serve the people. Mai desh ka bhala karna chahta hu. I want to help more and more people,” he said.

When asked about the recent wrestlers’ protest against the BJP government, Singh said: “As I said, I will continue to call wrong as wrong and right as right and will work towards strengthening athletes.”

“I would like to be a part of this government, help people and show them the right path,” he said, adding, “I am the same Vijender and will call a spade a spade.”

Tawde said Singh had joined the BJP to “fulfil the pledge of a Viksit Bharat under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)

Also read: RLD Vice President Shahid Siddiqui quits party days after alliance with BJP led-NDA