Babita Phogat, international level wrestler, and her father Mahavir Phogat, on Tuesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Ms. Phogat likely to be considered for a party ticket from Haryana, which is to go to Assembly polls later this year.
The Phogat family — sisters Geeta,Vinesh, Priyanka, Ritu, Sangita as well as Babita’s — struggle to compete as wrestlers had inspired the hit Hindi 2016 film Dangal .
Ms. and Mr. Phogat joined the party in the presence of Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Haryana party general secretary Dr. Anil Jain, and State unit chief Subhash Barala.
Ms. Phogat praised Prime Minister Modi at her induction for “writing history” by doing away with special status for Jammu & Kashmir and said that she was a “big fan” of his.
‘Youth icon’
Mr. Rijiju called Ms. Phogat a “youth icon” for the country, having brought it glory by winning several medals in wrestling internationally. Mr. Phogat, who has coached his three daughters, also came in for praise from Mr. Rijiju.
Ms. Phogat also defended Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, after he courted controversy on his “brides from Kashmir” remarks.
“Manohar Lal Khattar ji has not made any such statement that portrays women wrongly and I urge the media not to distort his statement,” she said.
‘Lived the ideals’
BJP media head Anil Baluni said Mahavir Phogat had lived the ideals of the Central government’s scheme, ‘ Beti bachao , beti padhao’ , by coaching his daughters as wrestlers against societal pressure of that time.
Babita Phogat is a Commonwealth Games gold medalist and has also bagged medals at several international championships.
