India wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia formally joined the Congress party today and decided to contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls. The 30-year-old Phogat will surely fight for the Julana constituency, where the JJP’s Amarjeet Dhanda is the incumbent, and the 30-year-old Punia will contest from the Congress’ Badli seat. Earlier today, the two athletes’ met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.
They bought entry to the Congress, especially given that the party is currently engaged in the process of sharing seats with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The inclusion of those distinguished players is widely deemed a political calculation to strengthen Congress’ position to bargain, partly because some party leaders have shown less enthusiasm in the formation of the alliance with AAP.
Even though the Congress and AAP both are part of the INDIA bloc, which was created to consolidate the opposition before the upcoming parliamentary polls, this block has not made a success of the state electorate. Gandhi has been encouraging opposition parties to unite against the BJP, noting that only a united common front can vote the party out of power.
Talks regarding seat sharing are in progress. AAP wants to fight for 10 out of 90 assembly seats in Haryana; however, Congress is Okay with giving not more than seven seats to AAP. These talks will continue today, and AAP’s Raghav Chadha and Congress’s KC Venugopal will also be present.
Sharing deep links with the farmers of Haryana, especially those protesting against the BJP over issues such as legal MSP guarantee, Phogat can help turn the political fortune of Congress in favor of the state. Last week, she went to Shambhu to interact with protesting farmers and told them that she stood with them and that they must be listened to.
Both Phogat and Punia were in the news last year for organizing demonstrations against the former Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Singh who has been accused of grave charges, including rape. Three times, BJP MP Singh was also not issued a ticket to contest in the upcoming elections because of the controversy, and the BJP has put up his son Karan Bhushan Singh for the election.
