A big highlight of the Congress party’s bid for a comeback in Haryana which goes to polls on October 5 will now be the much anticipated political debut of celebrated wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. The two sportspersons will be the mascots of the party’s campaign, highlighting the ruling BJP’s alleged ill-treatment of the wrestlers that is believed to be resonating with the electorate.
The Congress has already listed the alleged injustices done to the wrestlers by the BJP-led government at the Centre as one of the most important issues in the coming elections. It has openly sided with the protesting wrestlers. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and his son Deepender, who is Lok Sabha MP from Rohtak, have projected themselves as the champions of the cause that the wrestlers were agitating for. Deepender had received Vinesh in Delhi when she returned from Paris Olympics and accompanied her to her village in Charkhi Dadri in Haryana.
#WATCH | After joining the Congress party, Vinesh Phogat says, "The fight is continuing, it hasn't ended yet. It's in Court. We will win that fight as well... With the new platform that we are getting today, we will work for the service of the nation. The way we played our game… pic.twitter.com/WRKn5Aufv2
— ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2024
For the past several days, it was expected that Phogat and Punia will join the Congress. And it was in a way confirmed when the Congress released photos of the two grapplers meeting Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Haryana is a wrestling powerhouse, and the protests by wrestlers on Jantar Mantar demanding action against the then Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Singh for having allegedly sexually harassed women wrestlers are believed to have struck a chord with the people of the state.
“The Congress stood with me in my bad time. When I was on the road fighting against injustice meted out to fellow women, they backed us...Our fight continues. The case in the court and I am confident that we will get justice,” Phogat said at a press conference at the AICC headquarters held to formally induct her and Punia into the Congress.
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With many of the wrestlers belonging to the dominant Jat community in the state, the Congress assesses that the induction of Phogat and Punia into the party and their possible electoral debut would be viewed sympathetically by them.
Also, the wrestlers have been at the forefront in standing up for the farmers who were protesting against the Narendra Modi government’s allegedly anti-farmer policies. They have also been raising their voice against the Agniveer scheme of the armed forces, the sentiment being in sync with the youth of the state that has the highest rate of unemployment in the country.
“We have fought against the atrocities done to the daughters of the country. We will also fight against the anti-farmer policies of the BJP government and also against Agniveer,” said Punia.
