- By Shivam Shandilya
- Fri, 06 Sep 2024 05:28 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Vinesh Phogat Joins Congress: Amid speculations of Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joining the Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly election, both the Olympian wrestlers joined the Grand Old Party on Friday. Punia and Phogat joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, party leader Pawan Khera, Haryana Congress chief Udai Bhan, and AICC in-charge of Haryana, Deepak Babaria.
After being inducted, Vinesh Phogat said, "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."
"....When we were being dragged on the road, all parties except BJP were with us. I feel proud that I have joined a party which stands with women and is ready to fight from 'sadak to sansad'..." said the athlete.
Meanwhile, responding to the development, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Anil Vij said on Friday that what objection could they have if she wanted to become "Congress ki beti" from "desh ki beti". He was asked about Phogat and another wrestler, Bajrang Punia, both from Haryana, hours before the two joined the Congress on Friday ahead of the Assembly polls in the state.
"... Agar woh desh ki beti sey Congress ki beti banna chaahti hai, to hamein kya etraaz hai (if Vinesh wants to become Congress' daughter from being the country's daughter, what objection can we have)," the former Haryana home minister said.
Vij also claimed that Congress was trying to bring these players with them from the very first day, and it was due to their instigation that the wrestlers started the movement in Delhi. It was because of their (Congress') instigation that the (Delhi) protest was going on; otherwise, the matter would have settled long before, he said.
Phogat and Punia, both 30 years of age, met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the national capital and other senior leaders at his 10, Rajaji Marg, and officially joined the party at a press conference at the AICC headquarters.
Earlier, Phogat resigned from the Indian Railways, citing personal reasons. Both the top wrestlers were part of protests by wrestlers over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year.
Earlier today, both wrestlers had called on Congress national President Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in the national capital.
The development comes ahead of polling for the 90-member Haryana Assembly scheduled for October 5, with counting of votes scheduled for October 8.
The wrestlers resigned from their respective positions in Northern Railways earlier in the day. Punia won bronze at the Tokyo Games bronze medallist, while Vinesh Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final. Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling a short while after she was disqualified from the Paris Olympic Games after being found overweight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in.