Vijender Singh Beniwal, the famous Olympic medal winning boxer who took to electoral politics in Lok Sabha election 2019 after joining the Congress, left the grand old party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday. The boxer-politician joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of party’s National General Secretary Vinod Tawde.
After joining the BJP, Vijender stated that he took the decision for the development of the country. “I have joined the BJP today for the development of the country and to serve the people,” ANI quoted him as saying. He further said that he would be able to work in a better way for the athletes and sportspersons with the BJP.
Just a few days ago, Vijender had posted a cryptic statement on his X account. His post indicated that he was ready to contest in Lok Sabha election 2024. “Janata jahan se chahegi hum tayaar hain (I am ready from a place where the public wants me to be),” he had written in Hindi.
जनता जहाँ से चाहेगी हम त्यार है 👊🏽
— Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) March 30, 2024
Hailing from the Jat community, which has a sizeable presence in his home state Haryana and also western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Delhi, Vijender is likely to feature as a prominent campaigner for the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha election.
The boxer-turned-politician had earlier in 2023 come in support of the protesting wrestlers who alleged sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chairman Brij Bhushan Saran Singh.
He had contested Lok Sabha election 2019 as a Congress candidate against BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha from the South Delhi constituency. While Bidhuri won the poll, Raghav Chadha came second and Vijender ended at the third spot.
He had also joined the farmers’ protest in 2020, while the latter were protesting against the central government’s three farm laws.
Vijender had won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. He also won silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the 2010 edition of the Games as well as the 2009 World Championships.