Badminton Player Saina Nehwal Joins BJP

The move is unsurprising, given Nehwal’s recent tweets and public comments.

New Delhi: Badminton player Saina Nehwal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi “inspires” her with his hard work for the country.

Joining the party at a ceremony at its headquarters in Delhi, Nehwal said the BJP has been working a lot for the country and she would work to do her bit as a party member.

Nehwal (29) is a former world number one and has won numerous international titles, including a bronze medal at the Olympics. Her older sister, Chandranshu Nehwal, also joined the saffron party today.

BJP general secretary Arun Singh told reporters that Saina has brought glory to the country with her many international titles. She later met party president J.P. Nadda.

Nehwal joining the BJP hardly comes as a surprise. In the last few months, she has not only been voicing her praise for the prime minister, but has also supported his government’s controversial decision to read down Article 370 by retweeting a tweet from the PMO.

The badminton player even praised the Hyderabad police for killing four men accused of rape in an encounter, even as many in the civil society questioned the arbitrary police action. The four accused were taken to alleged scene of crime in the middle of the night and killed before they could face any trial.

Nehwal has been campaigning for making gun license laws more liberal so that women could use the weapons for their safety.

She also praised Modi as a “versatile” person when he shot the controversial Man versus Wild show on the Discovery Channel. The show was a major talking point because Modi was shooting for the show on February 14, 2019 – the same day when terrorists attack a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, killing 40 paramilitary personnel. The opposition later alleged that the attack happened around the same time when Modi was at the Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand for the show. It alleged that Modi did not abandon the show despite knowing of the attack on Indian soldiers.

(With PTI inputs)