State Congress insiders claim that there is agreement within the party regarding fielding Vinesh in the Haryana elections from either the Jat-dominated Badli or Julana Assembly seat.
Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were inducted by the Congress on Friday, and rumors have it that they may run in the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections.
The two wrestlers are from the Jat community; they joined the party at the Congress headquarters. Jat farmers make up a sizable portion of the farming population in Haryana, and they have been furious with the BJP for not providing a legal guarantee for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, met with the two Olympians on Wednesday. According to a source, there was agreement within the party regarding Phogat’s candidacy.
In addition to gaining support from sportsmen, women, and young people, the party hopes to broaden its base of support by enlisting Phogat and Punia.
AICC representative for Haryana On Tuesday, Deepak Babaria declared that a choice regarding Phogat’s candidacy would be “announced soon.”
According to reports, the Congress is considering Phogat for the Julana and Badli seats, both of which have a sizable Jat population. Badli is represented by Kuldeep Vats of the Congress, while Amarjeet Dhanda of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) holds Julana. While Phogat could run from either Dadri or Julana, Punia was reportedly eyeing Badli, according to a source within the Congress in Delhi.
Congressmen have supported Phogat ever since she returned from the Olympics in Paris on August 19, following her disqualification prior to her gold medal match due to her weight exceeding the allowed limit. Congress MP Deepender Hooda gave her a warm welcome at the airport in Delhi, and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Leader of the Haryana Assembly, said he would nominate her to the Rajya Sabha if he had the numbers.
The wrestler also declared her support for the farmers who are protesting at Shambhu and Khanauri on the Haryana-Punjab border, which could be concerning for the BJP.
The Congress will also attempt to corner the BJP over the government’s inaction against the former MP by appointing Phogat, who had been the face of the wrestlers’ protests against former BJP MP and former chief of the wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brj Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Nonetheless, athletes have not fared well in Haryana’s political system. In the 2019 Assembly elections, wrestlers Yogeshwar Dutt and Babita Phogat, backed by the BJP, lost their seats in Baroda and Charkhi Dadri, respectively. It is now said that Dutt is vying for the Gohana seat.
Sandeep Singh, the former captain of India’s hockey team, was the only athlete to taste victory from Pehowa. Following that, he was appointed Sports Minister in the Manohar Lal Khattar Cabinet; however, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini removed him from his position following the revelation of sexual harassment claims. In the event that Singh is fielded, the former hockey player is unlikely to make the team, but a former coach who had made the accusations is reportedly eager to challenge for the Pehowa seat.
International boxer Vijender Singh, who was born in the village of Kaluwas in the Bhiwani district, is thought to be eager to run in the Haryana elections. Singh finished third from South Delhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate before switching to the BJP.
