Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia join Congress ahead of Haryana ‘dangal’

Haryana election updates: Olympian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress on Friday ahead of the Haryana assembly election.

The development came hours after Vinesh Phogat resigned from the Indian Railways, citing personal reasons.

Two ace wrestlers met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and other senior leaders at his 10 Rajaji Marg earlier on Friday. On September 4, they also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

After joining the Congress, Vinesh Phogat said that was very proud of joining a party which is ready to fight against the atrocities on women.

"I want to thank people of the country for supporting us in our wrestling journey. I want to thank the Congress party... when we were being dragged on the roads, all the parties except BJP were with us. They understood our pain, our tears. I am feeling very proud that I am joining such a party which is ready to fight against the atrocities being done against women. The party is ready to fight the battle from the roads to Parliament," Vinesh Phogat said.

Bajrang Punia said that he will work hard to strengthen the Congress party and the nation. He also targeted the BJP, accusing it of supporting those who commit atrocities against women.

“...What BJP IT Cell is saying today that we just wanted to do politics...We had written to all women BJP MPs to stand with us but they still didn't come. We are paying to raise the voices of women but now we know that BJP stands with atrocities against women, and all other parties stand with us,” he said.

“We will work hard to strengthen the Congress party and the nation...The day Vinesh qualified for finals the country was happy but the next day everyone was sad. At that time, one IT Cell was celebrating...”

Bajrang Punia is a Tokyo Games bronze medallist, while Vinesh Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final. She was, however, disqualified after being found overweight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in. She subsequently announced her retirement from the sport.

Punia and Phogat were also part of the protest by wrestlers over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year.

In her resignation letter to the Indian Railways, Phogat said that serving the railways has been a memorable and proud time in her life.

“Serving Indian Railways has been a memorable and proud time of my life. At this point in my life, I have decided to separate myself from the railway service and have submitted my resignation to the competent authorities of the Indian Railways. I will always be grateful to the Indian Railway family for this opportunity given to me by the Railways in the service of the nation,” Phogat wrote on X.

Elections in Haryana

Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.

The Congress and AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana Assembly polls with hard bargaining from both sides.

The two high-profile additions are expected to boost Congress' negotiating power, especially since some Haryana Congress leaders have doubts about teaming up with the AAP.

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AICC in-charge of Haryana Deepak Babaria on Wednesday confirmed that the Congress party is currently in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for an alliance in the upcoming assembly election. Babaria also said that the INDIA bloc's Samajwadi Party and CPI(M) have also approached Congress to fight the Haryana polls together.

He also said that CPI(M) and Samajwadi Party want to make their mark in the state, while the talks with AAP are progressing. Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi has reportedly sought the opinion of Haryana Congress members over the possible alliance with AAP.