On 6th September, wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joined the Indian National Congress ahead of the assembly election in Haryana. The development transpired after they met with Congress leader and Raebareli Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi on 4th September in New Delhi. The duo visited Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge at his Delhi home and formally joined the party afterwards in the presence of senior leaders including KC Venugopal and Pawan Khera.
#WATCH | Delhi: Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia join the Congress party
— ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2024
Party's general secretary KC Venugopal, party leader Pawan Khera, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan and AICC in-charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria present at the joining. pic.twitter.com/BrqEFtJCKn
“I want to thank the people of the country for supporting me during my wrestling career and I hope I live up to their expectations. I want to thank Congress because, as they say, it is only when times are bad that one finds out who is standing with them. When we were dragged on the roads, every party other than the BJP stood with us and understood our pain and our tears,” Vinesh Phogat stated during the event.
She added, “I am very proud to be associated with a party that stands up against misbehaviour and injustice against women. I want to assure the people of the country that we will work for them with the same intensity with which we worked in wrestling. We stand with every woman who finds herself helpless. If I wanted, I could have left wrestling at Jantar Mantar (during the protests) but I reached the finals of the Olympics but God had other plans. He has now given me a chance to serve the people of my country.”
“Chak de India, Chak de Haryana! Meeting our talented champions Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia who have made India proud in the world, at 10 Rajaji Marg. We are proud of both of you,” the Congress president stated on X (previously Twitter) along with a picture featuring the two wrestlers, Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal and himself.
चक दे इंडिया, चक दे हरियाणा!
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) September 6, 2024
दुनिया में भारत का नाम रौशन करने वाले हमारे प्रतिभाशाली चैंपियन विनेश फोगाट और बजरंग पुनिया से 10 राजाजी मार्ग पर मुलाक़ात।
हमें आप दोनों पर गर्व है। pic.twitter.com/aFRwfFeeo1
Vinesh Phogat also resigned from the Indian Railways before officially joining politics citing ‘family circumstances and personal reasons’. She shared the resignation letter on social media and wrote, “Serving Indian Railways has been a memorable and proud time of my life. At this point in my life, I have decided to separate myself from the service and have submitted my resignation to the competent authorities of the Indian Railways. I will always be grateful to the Indian Railways family for the opportunity given to me in the service of the nation.” She was appointed as an officer on special duty (OSD) with the Northern Railways.
भारतीय रेलवे की सेवा मेरे जीवन का एक यादगार और गौरवपूर्ण समय रहा है।
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) September 6, 2024
जीवन के इस मोड़ पर मैंने स्वयं को रेलवे सेवा से पृथक करने का निर्णय लेते हुए अपना त्यागपत्र भारतीय रेलवे के सक्षम अधिकारियों को सौप दिया है। राष्ट्र की सेवा में रेलवे द्वारा मुझे दिये गये इस अवसर के लिए मैं… pic.twitter.com/HasXLH5vBP
According to sources, Vinesh Phogat will contest the assembly poll and Bajrang Puniya is anticipated to be named as the co-chairman of the Haryana Congress campaign committee. Her seat will be finalized by the evening. According to other media reports, Bajrang Punia is vying for the Badli seat while Phogat is most likely to run from Julana or Dadri Vidhan Sabha. Voting in the state will take place on 5th October and the result will be announced on 8th October.
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the 50-kilogram gold medal match at the Olympics in Paris after it was discovered that she was 100 grams overweight. Her request for a shared silver award was also denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). One day after being disqualified, on 8th August, she declared her retirement from professional wrestling. Congressmen have been seen with her ever since her return to India. The first politician to arrive at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport to greet her with a “Hanuman Gada,” a victory symbol, was Rohtak Lok Sabha MP Deepender Singh Hooda. She also met with Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the former chief minister of Haryana, who had stated that anyone wishing to join the Congress is welcome.
Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat were among the most prominent names of the 2023 agitation against then-Wrestling Federation of India chief and former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has been facing sexual harassment charges. On 31st August, Vinesh Phogat visited a gathering of farmers at the Shambhu border where they were marking the 200th day of their protest in favour of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and was honoured by them during an event.
Meanwhile, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party have begun negotiations about seat sharing, which could result in the continuation of their alliance from the previous year’s Lok Sabha election. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria, former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, and party screening committee chairman Ajay Maken comprise the three-member team that the Congress has constituted for seat-sharing negotiations with the Samajwadi Party and Aam Aadmi Party.
The committee’s work would be supervised by KC Venugopal, the general secretary of the party. According to sources close to the Congress party, in the 90-member legislature of Haryana, the party is prepared to extend three seats to the AAP and one to the Samajwadi Party. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) reportedly approached the Congress party for seat-sharing as well.
(With inputs from ANI)
