Olympian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on September 4 amid speculation about contesting the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections.
Elections for the 90-member Legislative Assembly Haryana Legislative Assembly It is scheduled for October 5th.
Vinesh recently came into the limelight when she reached the final of the women's 50kg event. paris olympics But he was disqualified before the final after violating the 50 kg weight limit. A day after being disqualified, he decided to retire from wrestling. He also appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award him a joint silver medal.
There are reports of Vinesh and Bajrang joining the Congress party before the Haryana assembly elections. According to news agency ANI, both the wrestlers may join the party today.
On September 3, AICC state in-charge general secretary Deepak Babaria Talked about the possibility of wrestlers contesting on Congress ticket in Haryana elections. Babaria said that 41 seats were discussed in the CEC meeting on Tuesday, but there was no discussion on the candidature of Vinesh or Bajrang in the meeting.
“You will get clarity by tomorrow,” he told news agency PTI.
In May last year, Vinesh Phogat was among the popular Indian wrestlers who took part in a protest against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP leader. Brij Bhushan Sharan SinghHe has been accused of sexually harassing several female wrestlers.
Last week, Phogat had reached the farmers' protest site at Shambhu border and extended her support to the farmers and said that she stands with them as a daughter and prays to God that the farmers get their rights and justice.
Phogat denied speculation of entering politics, saying she is an athlete and belongs to the whole country and has “nothing to do with the upcoming state assembly elections.”
She said, “I am an athlete, I belong to the whole country. I have nothing to do with which state is having elections. I just know that my country is suffering, farmers are in distress. Their issues should be resolved and solving it should be the first priority of the government.”
I am an athlete, I am part of the whole country. I have nothing to do with which state is going to have elections.
When reporters asked her if she would contest the Haryana elections if the Congress gives her a ticket, the wrestler said Vinesh Phogat He said, “I will not speak on this, I will not talk about politics. I have come to my family. If you talk on this, you will ruin their struggle and fight. Today the focus is not on me. The focus should be on the farmers, I request this.”
