Congress’s South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Vijender Singh (Tashi Tobgyal) Congress’s South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Vijender Singh (Tashi Tobgyal)

In the colony where Vijender Singh lives, the transition from Olympian boxer to politician already seems complete. When outsiders ask for directions to his home, they are greeted with a smirk by neighbours: “Netaji ke ghar jaana hai?”

On Tuesday afternoon, the narrow lanes of South Delhi’s Shanti Kunj were taken over by a few dozen SUVs. Burly men in crisp white kurta pyjamas huddled on the compound of a two-storey house.

Inside, Congress’s South Delhi Lok Sabha candidate Vijender Singh was facing TV cameras, explaining his decision to join politics. “I believe in the Congress party’s vichardhara (ideology),” he told channel after channel.

When The Indian Express caught up with him for a conversation, Singh appeared relieved when told by an aide that there were no more interview requests for the day.

What exactly is his understanding of the “Congress ideology”? “Congress stands for the poor, youth, middle class, businessmen, sportspersons,” Singh, who will take on BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri and AAP’s Raghav Chadha said. The 33-year-old, who filed his nomination during the day, looks prepared to make the unlikely journey from the boxing ring to the world of politics.

But did he always harbour political ambitions? Singh said that while his candidature was confirmed late Monday night, he was given the offer to contest only on Sunday. “Mai toh achha bhala LA (Los Angeles) mein tha,” he said.

On being prodded further, he added: “I don’t come from a political family at all. My father is a bus driver, my grandfather was in the Army. But when you see things change, you watch news, you understand. I saw two terms of the UPA government and Modi ji’s government. I can see the difference. That’s why I have come into politics.”

Asked what is the big difference between the two regimes, Singh said the BJP talks about “rubbish things”, which an “educated person” like him cannot stand. “I believe in facts, they (BJP) don’t. They make a fantasy world, aisa hoga, vaisa hoga. If you look at Manmohan Singh’s tenure, he took good decisions like the nuclear deal. I still remember his government was going to fall. But he survived. That was a good thing,” he said.

Singh also believes that Bidhuri won in 2014 owing to the “Modi wave”. “He does not come to the constituency,” he said. Click here for more election news

Praising Rahul Gandhi’s simplicity, Singh, who is also an Asian Games gold medallist and has won three Commonwealth Games medals, recalled how the Congress president and his mother Sonia Gandhi always came to watch his boxing bouts whenever he had matches in Thyagaraj Stadium and elsewhere in the city. “Rahul likes sports, boxing. I didn’t train him, but he knows the moves,” he added.

Singh said he wants to change the perception that sportspersons cannot be good lawmakers or politicians and pointed out how Kirti Azad — who is also contesting on a Congress ticket after having switched over from BJP — always “stood by the good side”. “I will prove everyone wrong,” he stressed.

Asked what Vijender the boxer brings to the plate for the people of South Delhi and how he plans to take on his rivals, he appeared to be caught off guard. “I am doing my own things. I don’t go behind anyone. This is what I am — if you like it choose me, if you don’t, thank you so much,” he said.

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