New Delhi, 3 April

Vijender Singh, India's first Olympic medallist in boxing who took a plunge in politics in April 2019 by joining the Congress, switched to the BJP here on Wednesday.

Singh fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election unsuccessfully from the South Delhi constituency on a Congress ticket. His name was doing the rounds for the last few days as the party's nominee from Mathura, from where actor and incumbent MP Hema Malini has been fielded again by the BJP.

Singh comes from the Jat community, which has political influence in a large number of seats in Haryana, the state he comes from, western Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.