Olympian wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress party on Friday, weeks ahead of the Haryana assembly elections scheduled for October 5.
The development came hours after Vinesh Phogat resigned from the Indian Railways, citing personal reasons.
Phogat and Punia met Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in New Delhi to formally join the party. They also met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi earlier this week.
It is speculated that either or both of them could be in the fray for the Haryana elections.
In her resignation letter to the Indian Railways, Phogat expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the nation.
“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,” she wrote.
Vinesh Phogat, who missed out on the gold medal bout in the recently concluded Paris Olympics due to being overweight, and Bajrang Punia, a Tokyo Games bronze medallist, were 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.
Addressing the media after joining Congress, Phogat thanked the party for supporting the wrestlers’ protest. “I thank Congress party…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’…” she said.
Punia also slammed the BJP IT cell for insinuating that they were only interested in politics during the wrestlers’ protest. “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.
The Congress and AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana Assembly polls, with the two high-profile additions expected to boost Congress’ negotiating power. Voting on 90 Assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5, and counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
