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Andrew Feinberg
White Home Correspondent
Indian Olympic wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have joined the opposition Congress occasion, marking their entry into politics. This growth comes a 12 months after they led a high-profile protest towards the chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) over alleged sexual harassment.
The transfer got here weeks after Ms Phogat‘s emotional return dwelling final month from the Paris Olympics, the place she didn’t make weight for the ladies’s 50kg freestyle remaining by 100 grams regardless of ravenous herself.
It pushed the 30-year-old Asian Video games gold medallist to announce her retirement from the game and led to an outpouring of assist, with tons of of teary-eyed followers and wrestlers taking her on a street present to her village in northern India after she arrived in Delhi.
Ms Phogat, an Asian Video games gold medalist, will contest from Julana in Jind district within the upcoming meeting election in her dwelling state Haryana, whereas Mr Punia has been appointed because the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.
“I wish to thank the folks of the nation for supporting me throughout my wrestling profession, and I hope I reside as much as their expectations,” Phogat mentioned after becoming a member of the occasion. “I’m very proud to be related to a celebration that stands up towards misbehaviour and injustice towards girls.”
Their entry into politics comes after a extremely publicised protest towards the chief of the game’s governing physique in India, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, over alleged sexual harassment. Singh has denied any wrongdoing and has accused Phogat and others of being a part of a “political conspiracy” towards him.
“The struggle is constant, it hasn’t ended but,” Phogat mentioned, reflecting on the continued battle in court docket over allegations of sexual harassment. “We’ll win that struggle as properly… With the brand new platform that we’re getting as we speak, we are going to work for the service of the nation.”
Punia, who received bronze in males’s 65kg wrestling on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, added, “The laborious work that we did in the course of the protests and in assist of farmers, troopers, and the youth, we are going to proceed that tough work for our nation.”
The transfer is seen as a big enhance for the Congress occasion forward of the Haryana elections, the place prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Get together (BJP) is looking for a 3rd straight time period in energy.
“They haven’t solely introduced glory to the nation within the sports activities discipline however have additionally fought a robust battle towards injustice on the road,” Congress common secretary KC Venugopal advised reporters after inducting the wrestlers into the occasion in New Delhi, because the occasion introduced its record of 32 candidates for the Haryana Meeting election slated for five October. The outcomes can be introduced on 8 October.
In the meantime, Singh claimed the protest was scripted and accused Congress of combating for politics. “They weren’t combating for daughters’ honour, however for politics,” he mentioned.
He provided to marketing campaign for the BJP in Haryana, assured of assist from his neighborhood, and even keen to take action “proper in entrance of” Phogat and others.
