Wrestler Babita Phogat, her father Mahavir join BJP in presence of Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

Commonwealth Games champion wrestler Babita Phogat and her father Mahavir Singh on Monday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Union Minister Kiren Rijiju. Babita’s father is a noted wrestling coach and a Dhronacharya awardee. He was Jannayak Janata Party’s (JJP) sports wing in-charge in the state. 

Others present at the party office were BJP general secretary in charge of Haryana Anil Jain and its state chief Subhash Badala.

Lauding the father-daughter duo, Rijiju said Babita Phogat has brought laurels to the country by bagging medals at several international events.

The BJP believes that the induction of Phogats into the party will help it politically in the poll-bound Haryana. Assembly elections are due in the state later this year.  

Babita is the younger of the two famous Phogat sisters, elder being Geeta, on whom the successful Bollywood film 'Dangal' is based.

A bronze medallist at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships, Babita had won yellow metals at 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She is all set to tie the knot with Vivek Suhag after her family gave the approval. According to his social media profile, Vivek Suhag is a winner of last year's 'Kesari award'.

The JJP was launched last year by former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala's grandson Dushyant Chautala, following a power struggle in the state's main opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD).