Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia join Congress, meet Kharge
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Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia reached 10 Rajaji Marg and met with Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and K C Venugopal | Photo: X-Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge)
New Delhi: Prior to the Haryana Assembly elections on Friday, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress on Friday.
Phogat and Punia visited Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress, and other high-ranking officials at his 10 Rajaji Marg. They became members of the party at the AICC headquarters here.
"Both Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat are joining the party. Whether one of them will contest or both would contest would become clear soon," a party source said.
Reports indicated that Phogat will contest the election from Julana, the seat held by the Jannayak Janta Party's Amarjeet Dhanda, while Punia is set for the Badli constituency, the Congress seat, where the state BJP has fielded former state unit president Om Prakash Dhankar.
Also, Phogat on Friday resigned from the Indian Railways citing personal reasons.
Both Phogat and Punia had met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi here on Wednesday. The Congress had put out a photograph of Gandhi with Phogat and Punia on its official X handle.
Punia is a Tokyo Games bronze medallist, while Phogat became the first woman wrestler to reach the Olympics final, the stage where she was disqualified after being found over weight by about 100 gm in her 50-kg category weigh-in. She subsequently announced her retirement from the sport.
Punia and Phogat were part of the protest over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.
The Congress and AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana Assembly polls with hard bargaining from both sides.
Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
With PTI inputs
