NEW DELHI : Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia will contest the next Haryana Assembly elections. 30-year-old Vinesh Phogat can challenge Amarjeet Dhanda of Jannayak Janata Party from Julana seat. While Bajrang Punia can contest from Congress’ Badli seat. Both of them met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today.
This meeting is taking place at a time when preparations for the assembly elections in Haryana are in full swing. According to sources, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat have been asked by Rahul Gandhi to contest the assembly elections. Amidst these discussions, she has come to meet Rahul Gandhi. It is believed that Bajrang Punia had expressed his desire to contest from Badli seat on a Congress ticket, but Congress already has an MLA there, so Bajrang has been given the option of Bahadurgarh and Bhiwani. Kuldeep Vats is the current Congress MLA from Badli seat. Congress does not want to take any risk in this Brahmin-dominated area, so Brahmin leader Kuldeep Vats has been given the ticket again.
Bajrang has been told that he can contest from any of the Jat-dominated areas of the state. The joining of Ms Phogat and Mr Punia at this time is considered significant as the Congress is nominating both its candidates and is in talks with the Aam Aadmi Party on seat sharing.
These two high-profile candidates are seen as strengthening the Congress’ position, especially after some leaders of the Haryana Congress expressed their objection to the alliance with the AAP. An ‘in principle’ agreement between the two parties was announced last night. The Congress and the AAP are members of the India Bloc, which united the opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in April-June, though the alliance has not been a significant factor in state elections. Mr Gandhi seems keen to change this as he understands that if the opposition stands together, it has a better chance of defeating the BJP at the Centre or in the state.
According to Congress sources, Rahul Gandhi had therefore pressured senior Congress leaders to forge an alliance with the AAP for the Haryana elections and avoid a division of votes. Initial talks last night said the AAP wanted to contest 10 of the state’s 90 seats. However, the Congress was reluctant to contest more than seven seats, with one seat expected to be given to former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, another India Bloc member.
Last week Ms Phogat met farmers camping at a protest site in Shambhu on the Haryana-Delhi border, calling herself “your daughter” and saying she prayed to God for justice for them. “Today your movement has completed 200 days. I pray to God that you get the justice you have come for.. Your daughter stands with you. I also urge the government… we are also citizens of India and just because we raise our voice, it is not political,” she said, adding, “You (the government) should listen to them.” Then, however, when asked about her political debut, Ms Phogat was cautious. Phogat and Mr Punia hit the headlines last year after leading a protest against former wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment and intimidation. The BJP fielded his son Karan Bhushan Singh, who won the seat.
(Bureau Report with Media Inputs).

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