Discuss thrower Krishna Poonia today rubbished allegations that she had lobbied for the prestigious Khel Ratna award, saying she was only raising her voice against the "injustice" meted out to her.
"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.
"Firstly, I want to say that if I indeed had to lobby then Sports Minister is from Rajasthan and so am I. If I was to indulge in lobbying, I could have done it before the list was announced.
"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.
