- By Aashish Vashistha
- Wed, 04 Sep 2024 12:34 PM (IST)
- Source:ANI
Olympian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are likely to contest the forthcoming Assembly polls in Haryana on Congress ticket and might resign from their official post, news agency ANI reported citing sources. Both grapplers met Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia likely to contest Haryana Assembly elections on Congress ticket; might resign from their posts today: Sources
— ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2024
Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. Now they are meeting Congress General Secretary…
The Assembly elections in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the results will be announced on October 8.
Both Punia and Vinesh made headlines last year after they protested against the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and accused him of sexually assaulting and intimidating female grapplers. Following the controversy, Singh was denied a ticket from the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat.
After returning from the Paris Olympics, Vinesh Phogat met with former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who emphasised that Congress welcomes anyone who wants to join the party. Phogat along with Punia also met with Congress general secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Vinesh Phogat was disqualified from the 50 kg gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics 2024 after she was found to be 100 grams overweight. Following her disqualification, she appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to award her joint silver. However, the CAS dismissed her petition.
A day after her disqualification, Phogat announced her retirement from wrestling on August 8. Since she returned to the country after the Paris Olympics, there has been intense speculation that she would enter active politics like her cousin Babita who is a BJP MLA.