CWG gold medallist shooter Shreyasi Singh joins BJP, may contest Bihar elections

Arjuna awardee and Commonwealth Games gold medalist shooter Shreyasi Singh on Sunday made a debut in the political arena by joining the BJP.

Shreyasi, who bagged the double trap gold in the 2018 Commonwealth Games, is expected to enter the electoral fray in the upcoming Bihar elections, taking forward the legacy of her late father Digvijay Singh, who was a minister during the Vajpayee government.

Shreyasi met BJP president J P Nadda along with her mother Putul Kumari Singh, a former Lok Sabha member from Banka in Bihar. The ace shooter formally joined the BJP at the party headquarters in the presence of senior leaders Bhupendra Singh Yadav and Arun Singh.

Besides the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, she had also bagged the silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. She was conferred the Arjuna Award in 2018.

Reports had it that Shreyasi was being considered as a candidate for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election.

Shreyasi’s father Digvijay Singh was also the President of the National Rifle Association of India and a founding member of the Samata Party of George Fernandes. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha twice and a three-term member of the Lok Sabha from Banka.

While Digvijay Singh was with the Samata Party and later with the JD (U), he had won the 2009 Lok Sabha election as an independent. After his death in 2010, his widow Putul Kumari won the bye-election as a BJP candidate but lost the 2014 polls to the RJD candidate.