Brand Ambassador of Haryana

Haryana — the northwestern Indian state bordering Delhi, carved out of Punjab in 1966 and known as the land of warriors, wrestlers, and winners — produces sporting champions at a per capita rate that no other Indian state approaches, generating Olympic medals, World Championship titles, and national sporting heroes from rural districts and small towns through a combination of genetic wrestling heritage, intense sporting culture, and a state government that has invested significantly in athlete development and recognition. The brand ambassadors of Haryana reflect this extraordinary sporting heritage alongside the state’s cultural richness — spanning Olympic wrestlers, shooting champions, yoga masters, tourism icons, and grassroots women’s leadership, each representing a different facet of what Haryana wants to communicate about itself.

Haryana Brand Ambassador Portfolio — Complete Overview

Dharmendra and Hema Malini — Haryana Tourism’s Golden Pair

The most enduring celebrity brand ambassador relationship in Haryana’s government campaigns is the eight-plus year partnership with veteran Bollywood superstars Dharmendra and Hema Malini as ambassadors for Haryana Tourism — a partnership that reflects both the couple’s deep roots in Haryana’s cultural identity and the tourism department’s recognition that their timeless appeal connects the state’s heritage with the cross-generational emotional warmth they generate in Indian audiences.

Dharmendra’s Haryana connection is biographical and genuine — born in Sahnewal village near Ludhiana in undivided Punjab, his rustic physical power, earthy humour, and the agricultural Jat masculinity he embodies throughout his film career reflect the cultural texture of Haryana in ways that no manufactured celebrity endorsement can replicate. His presence in Haryana Tourism’s Surajkund Crafts Mela promotions and other heritage campaigns communicates that the state’s rural and craft heritage is something its own sons celebrate rather than a product packaged for external consumption.

Together, Dharmendra and Hema Malini — known as the dream couple of 1970s and 1980s Bollywood and members of Parliament from Bikaner and Mathura respectively — bring a combination of vintage Bollywood glamour and cross-generational recognisability that makes their Haryana Tourism ambassadorship one of Indian state tourism’s most affectionately received celebrity partnerships. Their official photographs on Haryana Tourism materials continue to carry the old-fashioned elegance that newer endorsements cannot match for certain audience segments.

The Olympic Champions Representing Haryana

Haryana’s most significant ambassador investments align with its most significant competitive sporting achievements — appointing Olympic medal winners as brand ambassadors whose personal stories represent the state’s sporting pride to audiences far beyond its geographic boundaries.

Sakshi Malik — BBBP Pioneer: Sakshi Malik’s appointment as brand ambassador for Haryana’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign in August 2016 — following her bronze medal at the Rio Olympics as India’s first female Olympic wrestling medallist — placed a girl from Rohtak in Haryana at the centre of India’s most important girl child empowerment messaging. The cultural significance of a Haryana woman winning an Olympic wrestling medal — in a state historically associated with son preference and gender challenges — made her the most powerful possible proof of the BBBP thesis that saving and educating daughters produces world champions.

Manu Bhaker — The Dual Olympic Champion: Manu Bhaker’s appointment as the Haryana BBBP ambassador in August 2024 following her historic dual bronze medal performance at the Paris 2024 Olympics — becoming the first Indian to win two medals at a single Olympic Games — amplified the campaign’s message to an extraordinary degree. Born in Jhajjar district, Haryana, her achievements represent the state at its sporting best and her ambassadorship provides the campaign with living proof that Haryana’s daughters, when given opportunity, can stand at the absolute summit of global sporting achievement.

Shafali Verma — Women’s Commission Champion: The Haryana State Women’s Commission’s appointment of Shafali Verma as its brand ambassador in 2025 — following her Player of the Final performance as India won the ICC Women’s World Cup title, scoring 87 runs and taking 2 wickets against South Africa — added another remarkable Haryana-born sporting champion to the state’s ambassador ecosystem. Her appointment specifically for promoting sports, drug-free lifestyle, gender equality, and women’s empowerment places cricket alongside wrestling and shooting in Haryana’s ambassador portfolio.

Baba Ramdev — The Yoga and Cultural Ambassador

Baba Ramdev’s appointment as Haryana’s ambassador for yoga and Ayurveda since 2015 reflects the state government’s recognition of the yoga guru’s extraordinary grassroots reach in rural Haryana — where his television programmes, yoga camps, and Patanjali product network have built a following that state government communication mechanisms alone cannot match. His role in spreading yoga in Haryana’s schools and villages and promoting herbal garden schemes aligns his commercial empire’s marketing reach with the state government’s health and cultural aspirations in a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Haryana’s brand ambassador ecosystem in 2026 is one of India’s most complete state ambassador programmes — spanning entertainment, sports, wellness, and grassroots governance in a coherent multi-channel communication strategy that reflects a state whose identity is simultaneously ancient, athletic, and aspirationally contemporary.