Boxer Vijender Singh, who joined Congress in 2019, on Wednesday quit the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at party headquarters in Delhi.

Singh, India’s first Olympic medalist in boxing, was inducted by party’s National General Secretary Vinod Tawde.

After joining the saffron camp, Vijender Singh said, “I have joined BJP today for the development of the country and to serve the people…”

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The boxer had contested the 2019 polls as a Congress candidate from the South Delhi constituency, though unsuccessfully. He lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri.

For the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, his name was doing the rounds for the last few days as the party’s nominee from Mathura, from where actor and incumbent BJP MP Hema Malini is contesting again.

Singh’s move is expected to help the BJP consolidate votes from the Jat community, which is especially important in Haryana and Western UP.