Badminton champion and former world number one Saina Nehwal on Wednesday joined the BJP. Her elder sister, Chandranshu Nehwal, also joined the party along with her.
At a formal joining ceremony at the BJP national headquarters in New Delhi after meeting party president J.P. Nadda, Ms. Nehwal hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as an “inspiration” with his “hard work” for the country.
"I am a hard-working person and like hard-working people. [Prime Minister] Narendra Modi sir has been working day and night for the country. If I can do something for the country with him, it will be my good fortune. I draw a lot of inspiration from Modi sir. He inspires me,” she said.
Ms. Nehwal is the first Indian badminton player to have won an Olympic medal, a feat she achieved in the 2012 London games where she was a bronze medallist. She also raised the bar for Indian badminton with the first-ever Super Series title in 2008, and also beating some of the biggest names in the game.
The Padma and Arjuna awardee also referred to the government's “Khelo India” run by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and praised it.
BJP general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Arun Singh, who was present at her induction into the party, said Ms. Nehwal had brought glory to the country with her 24 international titles, including Gold in the Commonwealth Games, and the people of India were proud of her. “She is an inspirational figure,” he noted.
Sources in the BJP said the party may deploy her in the Delhi election campaign, especially to reach out to youngsters, presenting her as a “youth icon” who chose to join it.
