Amid the ongoing blame game between Commonwealth bronze winner Divya Kakran and the Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi over the AAP government not providing assistance to the wrestler, AAP leaders on Friday shared an old video of the athlete where she can be seen seeking votes for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. “Vote for BJP because we all know what PM Modi and Yogi did for us. Be it sports, education or health, there have been many betterments,” Divya said in the video.
AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj who has been slammed by the BJP for questioning Divya Kakran’s claim that she plays for Delhi shared the video and wrote, “This is the real reason why the BJP is so pained”. AAP councillor Shalini Singh posted the video and said seeking votes for the BJP and money from Kejriwal is not right. “In my opinion, athletes should stay away from politics,” Singh tweeted.
After her Commonwealth feat, Divya Kakran tweeted that she received no assistance from the Delhi government. The Delhi government claimed that she never applied for any assistance and she has been representing Uttar Pradesh, not Delhi, since 2017. Until 2017, Divya was given money from the government as long as she represented Delhi, the AAP claimed showing documents. On the BJP’s claim that the athletes represent India and their victory is India’s victory and not of any particular state, AAP questioned whether the 17 BJP-ruled states will give cash rewards to all 61 medal winners.
The athlete on Thursday addressed a press conference and said she comes from a poor family and struggled a lot to sustain her wrestling career. Divya said she used to travel sitting next to train toilets as she had no money for travelling, but she received no assistance from the government. In 2018, she said, she started playing for Uttar Pradesh and got rewarded. She said she was not begging for money but the Delhi government did not provide any other assistance as well.
