Recently, Indian wrestler Divya Kakran stirred a controversy by saying that she did not get any support from Delhi Government despite promises. As Aam Aadmi Party-led (AAP) Delhi Government started to get criticism over the allegations, its MLA Saurabh Bharadwaj tried to claim that Kakran never represented Delhi. In reply to the August 9 tweet of Bharadwaj, Kakran produced certificates to prove she had represented Delhi between 2011 and 2017.
In a tweet, Kakran wrote, “I represented Delhi from 2011 to 2017. This is my certificate from Delhi State. If you still do not believe me, I can upload 17 Gold medal-related certificates as well.” It is noteworthy that she has won over 60 medals including 17 Gold medals in Delhi State Championship.
2011 se 2017 tak me delhi se khelti thi ye raha certificate delhi sate ka !
— Divya kakran (@DivyaWrestler) August 9, 2022
Ager apko abhi bhi yakin nahi to delhi sate se 17 Gold h mere vo certificate bhi upload karu https://t.co/0PXYp7NWR0 pic.twitter.com/H7dwTWsSx7
Divya Kakran had thanked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his wishes on winning a medal at Commonwealth Games 2022 and reminded him that despite the promises made by the Delhi Government, she did not receive any help from the state. Kakran had earlier blamed Delhi Government in 2018 for the same.
Quoting Kakran, Bharadwaj added screenshots of news reports that pointed to Divya Kakran representing her home state Uttar Pradesh. He wrote on August 7, “The whole country is proud of you sister. But I do not remember that you play for Delhi. You have always been playing for Uttar Pradesh. But the player is of the country. You do not expect respect from Yogi Adityanath Ji. I think the Chief Minister of Delhi will listen to you.
https://t.co/OQQf84oo1c pic.twitter.com/kHKDNROA6c
— Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) August 7, 2022
He added, “Maybe I am the wrong sister but when I searched, I found that you have always been playing for Uttar Pradesh, not from Delhi State. Today the whole country is proud of you. I pray to God that you go ahead.” It is unclear why Bharadwaj did not approach the sports department of the Delhi Government to check if Divya played for Delhi and used media reports.
Retaliating to her statement, the AAP government had said,” The Delhi government 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.”
Jumping to back Delhi Government’s attempts to get away from supporting Divya, filmmaker Vinod Kapri decided to add his own two cents. He said, “You must get respect Divya Kakran. In this regard, you should also write to the Chief Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath immediately because you are a real resident of UP and you play from UP. Also, you work in railways.”
आपको सम्मान ज़रूर मिलना चाहिए @DivyaWrestler .. इस बाबत आपको यूपी के मुख्यमंत्री @myogiadityanath को भी तुरंत लिखना चाहिए क्योंकि आप असल निवासी तो यूपी की हैं और खेलती भी यूपी से हैं और रेलवे में काम करती हैं। https://t.co/ifqGmB2v9i pic.twitter.com/J2y1g0exiX
— Vinod Kapri (@vinodkapri) August 7, 2022
On 7th August 2022, Divya Kakran, the wrestler who won a bronze medal in the ongoing Commonwealth Games 2022, shared on Twitter how she hasn’t been given any prize money to date by the Delhi government. She shared this in response to the congratulatory tweet from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Divya Kakran tweeted, “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.”
