Vijender Singh, India’s first Olympic medallist in boxing and a Congress leader, joined the BJP on Wednesday.
Singh had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully from the South Delhi constituency as a Congress candidate. His name was doings the rounds for the last few days as the party’s nominee from Mathura, from where actor and incumbent MP Hema Malini is contesting again.
Singh comes from the Jat community, which has political influence in a large number of seats in Haryana, the state he comes from, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Vijender Singh Beniwal (born 29 October 1985) is an Indian professional boxer and politician of Bharatiya Janata Party. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. He also won bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as well as silver medals at the 2006 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, all in the middleweight division.
In June 2015, Vijender Singh turned professional and signed a multi-year agreement with Queensberry Promotions through IOS Sports and Entertainment. This ruled him out of 2016 Olympics which would have been his fourth.
He has also been an active politician and contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the South Delhi constituency.
Vijender Singh was born in a Jat family on 29 October 1985 in Kaluwas village, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from Bhiwani, Haryana. His father, Mahipal Singh Beniwal, is a bus driver with the Haryana Roadways, while his mother is a homemaker. His father drove extra hours for overtime pay, for Vijender and his elder brother Manoj’s education.Vijender did his primary schooling in Kaluwas, secondary schooling in Bhiwani, finally receiving a bachelor’s degree from Vaish College, Bhiwani. He married Archana Singh in 2011. They have two sons together, Abir Singh and Amrik Singh.
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