Badminton star Saina Nehwal joins BJP, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspires her

New Delhi: Celebrated shuttler Saina Nehwal on Wednesday joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with her sister, and is reportedly likely to campaign for the party ahead of the 8 February Delhi election. [caption id=“attachment_7972271” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Saina Nehwal joins the BJP. Twitter @BJP4India[/caption] Saina, an Olympic bronze medallist from the 2012 London Games and a two-time World Championships medallist, announced the decision at a press conference, and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inspiring her. “I am really inspired by Narendra sir and I hope to serve the country to the best of my abilities. I am thankful to BJP for giving me such an honour. I am looking forward to doing well here,” the 29-year-old said. “I am a very hardworking person and I admire people who work hard. I can see Narendra Modi sir works day and night for the country, and it will my privilege to work for the nation alongside him. It is all very new to me, but I like to follow politics. I am happy to join a party that is doing so well for the country,” she added.

Badminton player @NSaina joins BJP in the presence of BJP National General Secretary Shri @ArunSinghbjp. pic.twitter.com/b6NEnDBMUT

— BJP (@BJP4India) January 29, 2020

Saina, who last won a BWF title in January 2019 (Indonesia Masters), has been blighted with injuries and loss of form, and is scrambling to make the cut for this year’s Tokyo Olympics. She has also skipped the ongoing edition of the Premier Badminton League. Apart from Saina, BJP has a healthy roster of sportspersons in their ranks, with cricketer Gautam Gambhir, hockey captain Sandeep Singh and wrestlers Babita Phogat and Yogeshwar Dutt having joined the party in recent past. However, Saina remains the only active athlete in the list.