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Chandigarh: Ending suspense over their political plunge, Olympian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia on Friday joined Congress in Delhi, ahead of Haryana assembly polls. They were welcomed into the party by general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal and party’s media and publicity chairman Pawan Khera.
While Vinesh is likely to contest the October 5 assembly election in Haryana, Punia may get a post in the party’s campaign committee. With their entry, the party hopes to boost its prospects among Jat voters.
While Punia is a Tokyo Games bronze medallist, Vinesh is first woman wrestler to reach Olympics final; however, the ace wrestler was disqualified after being found overweight by 100 grams; she had subsequently announced her retirement from the sport.
It may also be recalled that the grapplers duo were also part of protest by wrestlers over sexual harassment allegations against former senior BJP MP and the then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, last year.
The protesting wrestlers were backed by Haryana Congress leaders including Deepender Hooda, an MP and son of two-term chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The latter had also offered her a Rajya Sabha seat after she was disqualified at the Olympics.
Even though talks were agog about their joining Congress since the past several days, Hooda Sr had junked the queries in this regard terming the same as "hypothetical questions’’. Even Vinesh had refrained from replying to questions pertaining to her likely joining the party. However, both the ace wrestlers met Rahul Gandhi on September 4.
According to media reports, while commenting on their meeting with Rahul, Union minister and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar had held in his view the athletes had got trapped in a political maze during the protest and that the wrestlers’ protest was politically motivated.
Earlier in the day, Vinesh resigned from the Indian Railways citing personal reasons and saying that serving the railways had been a memorable and proud time in her life. It may be recalled that polling in Haryana would be held on October 5 and the results would be out on October 8.
While the BJP is going alone, the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are currently holding negotiations over an alliance, Abhay Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal has stitched alliance with BSP and Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) has truck with Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram).
