Lok Sabha polls 2019: Paralympic Games winner Deepa Malik joins BJP

Weeks ahead of Lok Sabha polls 2019, first Indian woman athlete to win Paralympics medal Deepa Malik joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday. Along with Deepa Malik INLD MLA Kehar Singh Rawat also joined the BJP party.

After joining the party, Deepa Malik said:

"I wanted to contribute to the development of the nation. I became physically-disabled (Viklaang) about 20 years back and since the few days I have been seeing myself as Divyaang. It is because of PM Modi's efforts for the physically-disabled people. He changed the thinking and policies of the society. I want to take the work for the handicapped forward through this initiative."

48-year-old Deepa Malik became the first Indian woman athlete to win a medal at Paralympics Games with her silver in the women's shotput event at the Rio Games in 2016. She has also won gold in F-53/54 Javelin event at the para athletic grand Prix held in Dubai in 2018. She currently is the world number one in the F-53 category.

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This development has come only days after World Cup-winning Team India Cricketer Gautam Gambhir joined the BJP and was inducted by union ministers Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad into the party.

In his remarks, Gambhir credited PM Narendra Modi's vision for having an influence on his decision to join the party. Hours after he entered into politics, the cricketer-turned-politician took to Twitter and posted a message, wherein he reiterated his commitment to work for the country.

"I have joined BJP to serve the country with right intent and honesty. I hope through this I can make some meaningful difference to the lives of my people," his social media post read.

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