# Uttarakhand teen says Rs 1.5 lakh was tournament share, not bribe

2026-08-12T18:33:21+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 2 independent outlets

A 17-year-old Taekwondo player from Uttarakhand has clarified that the Rs 1.5 lakh she mentioned during a programme with Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami was her share of expenses for an international tournament, not a bribe as alleged by the Congress. Shayra, a Class 12 student, became emotional while telling Dhami on August 10 that she missed the event in Romania because she could not arrange the money. In a later video, Shayra said the organisers had agreed to cover about Rs 1.70 lakh of the costs, and she needed to arrange the remaining Rs 1.5 lakh herself. She had not informed her school or others in time. The Congress had accused the BJP government of corruption based on her initial remarks, but Shayra did not name anyone or explicitly call it a bribe.

## Coverage

- indiatoday.in <https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/uttarakhand-taekwondo-student-rs-1-5-lakh-claim-congress-row-clarification-2969613-2026-08-12?utm_source=rss>
- timesnownews.com <https://www.timesnownews.com/viral/over-rs-1-lakh-uttarakhand-cm-dhami-and-a-bribe-row-what-the-girl-said-next-changed-the-story-viral-video-article-155601735>

Tags: BJP, bribe allegation, Congress, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Taekwondo, Uttarakhand
Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/taekwondo-teen-clarifies-rs-1-5-lakh-not-a-bribe/
License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources.
Cite: https://indianopinion.org/taekwondo-teen-clarifies-rs-1-5-lakh-not-a-bribe/#story-in-brief

Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes.