New Delhi: In an apparent shock to the Congress, boxer Vijender Singh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday.
“I have joined BJP today for the development of the country and to serve the people…”, he said after the joining the saffron camp at the party’s headquarters in the national capital in the presence of BJP leaders Vinod Tawde, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and Rajiv Babbar.
He further said that this association will help him to work in a better way for the athletes and sportspersons.
His one-line cryptic post on X on March 30, “Wherever the public wants, I am ready”, had triggered speculation about his alliance with the Congress.
When a reporter asked him as to what made him to change his mind within 24 hours of retweeting Rahul Gandhi’s video against Modi, Singh said that he slept after that and on waking up, he realised that he was on the wrong platform.
जब सरकार बदलेगी तो ‘लोकतंत्र का चीरहरण’ करने वालों पर कार्रवाई ज़रूर होगी!
और ऐसी कार्रवाई होगी कि दोबारा फिर किसी की हिम्मत नहीं होगी, ये सब करने की।
ये मेरी गारंटी है।#BJPTaxTerrorism pic.twitter.com/SSkiolorvH
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 29, 2024
India’s first Olympic medallist in boxing, he had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the South Delhi constituency on a Congress ticket. His name was also doing the rounds for the last few days as the Congress’ nominee from Mathura, from where actor and incumbent MP Hema Malini is contesting again. Singh comes from the Jat community, which has political influence in a large number of seats in Haryana, the state he comes from, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Singh had also marched along with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the first leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in January last year in Haryana’s Karnal.
