ON THE CAMPAIGN trail at Karsola village in poll-bound Haryana’s Jind district is the Congress’s most talked-about candidate, Vinesh Phogat. The ace wrestler is trying to deliver a speech. Her voice is hoarse―the hectic campaign has given her an inflamed larynx.
Vinesh soon cuts short her struggle, steps down the dais and makes her way to a group of women in the audience. They embrace Vinesh. “Ye ladki jitegi, pakka (This girl will win for certain),” says one. Vinesh smiles, masking her exhaustion, and poses for selfies with the youth.
Vinesh, who is contesting from Julana, is expected to win her maiden political contest, largely because of her Congress affiliation. “Not just this seat, the Congress will effortlessly form government,” said Nikhil Lathar, 20, who wants more job opportunities.
Vinesh leaves Karsola in her new SUV, which still bears a temporary number plate. Her convoy proceeds to the next stop, Shamlo Kalan. A tractor rally is scheduled in-between.
From pehalwan to protester to politician, Vinesh has had a roller coaster ride. As a child, she had faced discriminatory cultural norms that forbade women from participating in sports. What worked in her favour was her background―Mahavir Phogat of Dangal fame is her uncle.
After finishing school at Jhojhu Kalan, she continued her studies and diligently began training for wrestling. She was recently at the forefront of an agitation against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief, who has been accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers.
Married to fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee, Vinesh has three Commonwealth Games gold, two World Championship bronze and one Asian Games gold to her name. An Olympic gold or silver was within her reach in Paris this year, but she was disqualified for being overweight by 100 grams in the 50kg category.
After returning from Paris, Vinesh and fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia joined the Congress on September 6. Two days later, Vinesh was given the party ticket to contest the polls, due on October 5.
Vinesh’s first political bout is being keenly watched. As a candidate, she has focused on issues such as sports development, women’s empowerment and youth engagement.
In Julana, the Congress and the BJP are in a direct fight. The constituency has traditionally been a Congress bastion, and it includes Bhakta Khera, the village of Vinesh’s in-laws. The seat is dominated by the Jat community, of which Vinesh is a part. She hails from Balali in the neighbouring Charkhi Dadri district.
Vinesh’s political messaging relies on the anti-BJP sentiment over farm laws, the Agniveer scheme and the wrestlers’ protests. “Right after she was announced as the Congress candidate, she visited a grain market where a large crowd, primarily from the farming community, gathered to welcome her. She enjoys their support,” says Karambir, a Shamlo Kalan resident.
The state government’s March 2022 decision to put a cap of Rs2 lakh for development work that can be done without e-tendering had come in for criticism from sarpanches across Haryana. The discontent forced Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini to restore the earlier ceiling of Rs21 lakh.
Former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s digital initiatives have also provoked anger. “For the past five years, we have been standing in queues,” says Jagdish Prajapati of Shamlo Kalan. “Be it the family ID scheme or Meri Fasal, Mera Byora scheme, the present government has made our lives difficult.”
The complete absence of support for regional parties such as the Indian National Lok Dal and the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) in Julana brightens Vinesh’s poll prospects. Local people say the incumbent MLA, Amarjeet Dhanda of the JJP, is a nice man, but his party’s decision to ally with the BJP after the polls was disastrous. “Dushyant Chautala is a prominent Jat leader and we chose him in 2019 to further our interests. However, he sided with the BJP during the farm laws agitation and the wrestlers’ protests. The JJP will not return to power,” says Karambir.
Even an alliance with dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party is not expected to benefit the JJP. “A wave in favour of the Congress will ensure Vinesh’s win from Julana,” says Satyaman of Ram Kali village.
Vinesh’s charisma may not be limited to Julana. “She will bring more votes to the Congress, especially in Jat-dominated segments across Haryana that are already highly polarised,” says Satish Tyagi, a political analyst.
The contest, however, is no cakewalk. Although Julana is situated in Haryana’s Jat-dominated Bangar region, there is a sizeable population of dalits, Other Backward Classes and Brahmins. The BJP is banking on a coalition of castes to retain power. The OBCs make up 30 per cent of the state’s population, followed by Jats (25 per cent) and dalits (20 per cent).
Replacing Khattar with Saini, an OBC leader, was the first step in this direction. The BJP has fielded Brahmins, Rajputs and Punjabis in as many as 50 of the 90 seats in the state. There are only 16 Jat candidates; there were 19 in 2019 and 24 in 2014.
Against Vinesh, the BJP has fielded Capt Yogesh Bairagi, a 35-year-old former Army officer and commercial pilot who belongs to an OBC community. Bairagi was part of the Vande Bharat mission during the pandemic. A native of Paanju Kalan village, he was state vice president of the BJP’s youth wing.
“The scheduled castes and the OBCs constitute nearly half of the assembly seat’s electorate,” says Prajapati. “A lot will depend on who they will go for.”