New Delhi, September 6: Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were admitted by the Congress on Friday, and rumors have it that they may run in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections.
Rahul Gandhi’s meeting with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat
The two wrestlers are from the Jat community; they joined the party at the Congress headquarters. Jat farmers make up a sizable portion of the farming population in Haryana, and they have been furious with the BJP for not providing a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, met with the two Olympians on Wednesday. According to a source, there was agreement throughout the party regarding Phogat’s candidacy.
The party hopes to widen the support base among women, athletes, and youth by adding Phogat and Punia to the fold, apart from consolidating Jat votes.
According to reports, the Congress might nominate Phogat for the Julana and Badli seats, both of which have a sizable Jat population. Badli is represented by Kuldeep Vats of the Congress, while Amarjeet Dhanda of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) holds Julana.
“While Phogat may run from either Dadri or Julana, Punia was reportedly targeting Badli,” according to a source within the Congress in Delhi.
Congressmen have supported Phogat ever since she returned from the Olympics in Paris on August 19, following her disqualification prior to her gold medal match due to her weight exceeding the allowed limit. Congress MP Deepender Hooda gave her a warm welcome at the Delhi airport, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Leader of the Haryana Assembly, said that he would nominate her to the Rajya Sabha.
The wrestler also declared her support for the farmers who are protesting in Shambhu and Khanauri on the Haryana-Punjab border, which might be troublesome for the BJP.
The Congress would also attempt to corner the BJP over the government’s inaction against the former BJP MP Brj Bhushan Sharan Singh by appointing Phogat, who had been the face of the wrestlers’ protests against former BJP MP and former chairman of the wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
Nonetheless, athletes have not fared well in Haryana’s political system. In the 2019 Assembly elections, wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Babita Phogat, backed by the BJP, lost their seats in Baroda and Charkhi Dadri, respectively.
Sandeep Singh, the former captain of India’s hockey team, was the only athlete to enjoy triumph from Pehowa. Following that, he was appointed Sports Minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar Cabinet; however, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini removed him from his position following the revelation of sexual harassment claims.