Slamming the Aam Aadmi Party for questioning Divya Kakran on social media about whether she represents Delhi or not, BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla on Thursday said the insult is not only to Divya Kakran but also to the Tiranga of the country. Wrestler Divya Kakran won a bronze medal in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and as congratulatory messages poured in for her feat, Divya took to social media and wrote to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal stating that despite living in Delhi for the past 20 years, she did not receive any prize money from the state government.
“Heartfelt thanks to Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi for congratulating me on the medal. I have a request for you that I have been living in Delhi for the last 20 years and have been practising my sports wrestling, but so far I have not been given any kind of reward money from the state government nor any help has been given to me," Divya Kakran tweeted.
The social media complaint led to an exchange between Divya Kakran and AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj who questioned whether Divya Kakran is from Delhi and said he found that Divya Kakran actually represented Uttar Pradesh. To this, the wrestler produced a certificate from the Wrestling Federation of India mentioning that she represented Delhi in the 61st Men Free Style, Greco Roman Style and 19th Female Senior National Wrestling Championship, held in UP in 2016.
{{/usCountry}}The social media complaint led to an exchange between Divya Kakran and AAP MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj who questioned whether Divya Kakran is from Delhi and said he found that Divya Kakran actually represented Uttar Pradesh. To this, the wrestler produced a certificate from the Wrestling Federation of India mentioning that she represented Delhi in the 61st Men Free Style, Greco Roman Style and 19th Female Senior National Wrestling Championship, held in UP in 2016.
{{/usCountry}}Terming the entire episode as an insult to the pride of the country, to the athletes and the sisters of the country, the BJP leader said, "Our athletes put up a brilliant performance in the Commonwealth Games. Our athletes fight under one Tiranga and when they win a medal, they don't win it for Delhi, UP, but they win it for India."
"If there is one party that relishes in insulting those who raise the honour of our tricolour -- be it the jawans or our athletes-- it is the Aam Aadmi Party," Poonawalla said. "This is the same modus operandi of the AAP. They sought evidence of the surgical strike," the BJP leader said.
Questioning Arvind Kejriwal's alleged silence in the ‘tu tu -main main’ episode, the BJP leader said, “Could Arvind Kejriwal not tweet in the support of Divya Kakran once? Could he not shut Saurabh Bharadwaj on Twitter saying that he does not approve of this?”
After Divya Kakran's tweet, the Delhi goverment said it will look into whether she never received help from the government even after applying for any of the government's sports scheme.
In a statement, the Delhi government said, it respects all sportspersons of the country and prays for their bright future. "Currently Divya Kakran plays for Uttar Pradesh. If she had played from Delhi or she had been part of any sports scheme of the government or she has applied in any such scheme then the government will surely look into it," the statement read.