Wrestler Babita Phogat and her father and coach Mahavir Phogat joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Monday. Their home state, Haryana, is expected to have Assembly elections later this year.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju, party General Secretary Anil Jain and BJP Haryana unit chief Subhash Badala were present at the event to welcome them into the party. Rijiju called Babita Phogat a “youth icon” who brought laurels to the country by bagging medals at several international events. Babita Phogat told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had written history by scrapping Jammu and Kashmir’s special provisions and described herself as his “big fan”, PTI reported.

Babita Phogat is a three-time Commonwealth gold and silver medallist and and Arjuna Award winner. Her family was the subject of the 2016 Hindi film Dangal, in which Aamir Khan plays Mahavir Phogat and Sanya Malhotra played Babita Phogat. Babita Phogat’s elder sister Geeta Phogat is also a wrestler who has a Commonwealth gold to her name. They were coached by their father.

Mahavir Phogat was given the Dronacharya Award in 2016.