D.R. Akshitha (13), a national-level badminton player and the granddaughter of former police constable J. Dharman who was killed in the bombing of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will be receiving support from the the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP through its sports and skill development cell.
The party will be covering her travel expenditure for playing matches within India and also provide her with kits and accessories required for her sport.
Akshitha who reportedly ranks number 2 in the all-India under-13 category had been looking for support to pursue her badminton sport. She had won the title at the state-level tournament held at Puducherry in 2019 and was selected for the nationals.
In an interview to a YouTube channel, Akshitha’s father narrates that the Rajiv Gandhi assassination incident turned their lives upside down as his father Dharman being the sole breadwinner of the family too was killed on that tragic day in May 1991. Today, he lives in Puducherry and ekes out a living with a meagre income. He had involved his daughter in badminton since she was 7 who over the years proved to be good at it.
He said that a good badminton racket costs ₹8000-9000 which is way out of his means. He said that he had to pledge jewels and take loans to fund her travel for matches and to buy sports accessories for his daughter. He also said that many media channels came to do a story on them after looking at the posts he had put in the Facebook page that is there in his daughter’s name.
A few days back he had received a call from BJP leader Amar Prasad Reddy who had promised to help Akshitha in her endeavours.
In the next few hours, the family came to Kamalalayam (BJP Tamil Nadu’s headquarters) in Chennai and met the party’s state president K. Annamalai who pledged support for Akshita for the next two years.
On #NationalStudentsDay, would like to share the inspiring story of a young achiever who we had the opportunity to meet recently.
14-year-old Akshita is a national-level badminton player; her vision to bring glory to our nation is the motivation today’s young India needs. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/HlGa8uuR6i
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) July 9, 2022
Many on social media pointed out how Congress in Tamil Nadu had left the victims of the bombing in lurch.
Others pointed out that while Chief Minister MK Stalin had the time to meet and hug terror convict Perarivalan, he had not extended the same kind of support to the families affected by the incident.
Click here to subscribe to The Commune on Telegram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.