2024 Lok Sabha Elections: Olympic medallist boxer Vijender Singh joins BJP; leaves Congress

2024 Lok Sabha Elections: After staying in the Congress for more than five years, Olympic bronze medallist boxer, Vijender Singh jumped the ship and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of the party's National General Secretary Vinod Tawde in New Delhi on Wednesday (April 3, 2024).

VIDEO | Boxer and former Congress leader Vijender Singh (@boxervijender) joins BJP in the presence of the party's National General Secretary Vinod Tawde (@TawdeVinod) in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/3VIDsSMkh4

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 3, 2024

It is a huge blow for the Congress as the 38-year-old boxer from Bhiwani, Haryana, had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from the South Delhi seat on a Congress ticket.

He lost the election to the BJP' Ramesh Bidhuri.

Even though he lost, he had been a loyal supporter of the party and its leader, Rahul Gandhi. Through his social media posts and physical appearance, Vijender has been quite vocal about causes the Congress has supported. He had also supported the farmers' agitation.  

In the 2024 Parliamentary elections, rumours were making rounds that the Grand Old Party may ask him to contest from Mathura, where actress Hema Malini is an MP from the BJP. 

Vijender comes from Jat community in Haryana and he may be influencial in bringing the BJP support from the community in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections.

Vijender is the first Indian boxer to win a medal at Olympics. He achieved this feat at the 2008 Beijing Olympics when he won a bronze medal.

He is also the first Indian pugilist to win a World Championship medal. He clinched it in 2009 when he won a bronze medal.

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be conducted in seven phases, starting from April 9 and ending on June 1.

Votes will be counted on June 4.