Olympic medalist Vijender Singh quits Congress, joins BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls, calls it ‘homecoming’
Olympic medalist Vijender Singh joins BJP ahead of Lok Sabha polls
India's first Olympic medalist in Boxing, Vijender Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 3, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Singh, aKhel Ratna awardee, had contested general elections from South Delhi as a Congress candidate but lost to Ramesh Bidhuri of BJP.
"Boxer Shri Vijender Singh joins the BJP at party headquarters in New Delhi," Bharatiya Janata Party's official account wrote on social media platform X.
“Today I am joining BJP..it is like a ghar wapsi for me. When we would go out for the fight there were issues at the airports but now under this government we are getting all respect,” the boxer-turned-politician said.
In a first for India, Singh won a bronze medal for India in boxing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The 38-year-old also won a bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships. Singh also won a bronze and one silver in Commonwealth Games in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
Singh has been vocal about his opinions on various political matters. He supported the 2020–2021 farmers' protest in India. The 2010 Asian Games gold medalist also joined wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik's protest against Brij Bhushan Singh, the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) in 2023.
Singh joined the BJP within 24 hours of retweeting a post by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in which the former Congress president hadcriticised PM Narendra Modi in a veiled reference.
Singh had joined Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in January this year. “Punch against hate,” the Congress had said, sharing a photo of the boxer with Gandhi.
