"I want to clarify that I was not doing any lobbying. Wrong has been done to me, and I was only raising my voice against that. That can't be called lobbying. It's wrong," Poonia said.
The athlete's reaction came after ace shooter and Khel Ratna selection panel member Anjali Bhagwat revealed that Poonia had called her to lobby for the top honour just a day before the committee met.
"I have faith in my performance and I don't have to indulge in lobbying. In 2003, when K M Beenamol and Anjali Bhagwat won the Khel Ratna, did Bhagwat indulge in lobbying?," she asked.
Poonia also said she was not politicising the award.
"I am not politicising the award. As I had said earlier, if I was to politicise, I could have done it before the list was announced.
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