Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India’s top wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia on September 6 joined the Congress in the run-up to the Haryana Assembly elections on October 5. The development comes two days after the wrestlers met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and fuels speculation about them entering the poll fray.
It is expected 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.
Earlier in the day, Phogat and Punia met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence.
After the meeting, Kharge wrote on social media platform X, “Chak de India, Chak de Haryana! Meeting our talented champions Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia who have made India proud in the world at 10 Rajaji Marg. We are proud of both of you.”
Phogat also shared a copy of her resignation on ‘X’ from Indian Railways, saying the job has been memorable for life.
“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,” she said.
“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,” Phogat wrote on X.
Both Punia and Phogat, along with wrestler Sakshi Malik, were the prominent faces who protested against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, former BJP MP and then chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, who they accused of harassing young wrestlers.
