Bihar
Bihar Elections 2020: Shreyasi Singh - the BJP candidate with an Olympic dream
For sports fans across the country, the name Shreyasi Singh is quite well known. Singh shot into limelight with some terrific performances for India during the 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Championships, and has since gone on to put up some wonderful performances for the country.
Born to former Union Minister, late Digvijay Singh and Putul Kumari, an ex-MP, shooting and politics was a natural path to follow for Shreyasi. Both her father and grandfather were Presidents of the National Rifle Association of India during their lifetime. Shreyasi was awarded the Arjuna Award for her contribution to shooting in 2018 and she remains the only woman from Bihar to receive this prestigious award.
The President Shri Ram Nath Kovind presenting the Arjuna Award 2018 to Shreyasi Singh
Shreyasi is a double trap shooter and first made the headlines during the 2010 Commonwealth Shooting Championships where she won the silver medal.She then went on to represent India at the Trap Shooting World Cup in Mexico and finished 15th overall. The disappointment at the World Cup was soon shrugged off as she bagged a silver medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014 and a bronze at the Asian Games in Incheon. She went one better in the 2018 Commonwealth Games as she clinched the gold medal in Women’s double trap event with a score of 96.
The markswoman joined the Bhartiya Janta Party earlier in October 2020. Fielding Shreyasi for the seat from Jamui constituency was a last minute call by the party, and she is pitted against RJD’s Vijay Prakash and RLSP’s Ajay Pratap Singh.
As expected Digvijay Singh’s poster looms large on her campaign vehicle and Shreyasi for sure is banking on her father’s image, who passed away in 2010, to come up triumph this election. She though seems to have strong local support and BJP’s ally for the elections, LJP, has not fielded a candidate against her. Instead, the LJP chief and MP from Jamui, Chirag Paswan, has urged his party workers to support his ‘sister Shreyasi’.
Gold medalist Shreyasi Singh during the medal ceremony for the Women's Double Trap Finals of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
In an interview with the New Indian Express, Shreyasi said, “Politics may be a career to others but for me, it is a God-given chance for rendering service to humanity because service to humanity is service to God.” She also added that she wants to construct a sports complex at Jamui and wants to bring ‘sportsmanship’ into politics.
In another interview with the Times of India, Shreyasi told that she still harbours the dream of winning an Olympic medal for the country.
“I am not leaving sports. An Olympic medal is still my dream. All my qualities come from being a sportsperson. I will always remain one,” said Shreyasi to the Times of India when asked about sacrificing her sports career for politics.
The Jamui seat goes under the hammer during the first phase of elections on October 28th i.e. tomorrow. The BJP would certainly be hoping for a strong performance here from Shreyasi, just as she has done for the country with a gun in her hands.
Read Also: People of Bihar should live in Bihar, with their families and dignity: Shooter Shreyasi Singh
