Haryana assembly elections 2024: Days after meeting Rahul Gandhi, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia join Congress

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia on Friday joined the Congress party ahead of assembly elections in Haryana on October 5.The development comes days after the two met Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on Wednesday. 

Before joining the Congress, the two wrestlers met Congress party president Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal at Kharge's official residence and went to the Congress headquarters in Delhi.

Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia's entry into Congress could boost the grand old party's Jat votes. Meanwhile, Vinesh resigned from her job in the Indian Railways and called it a "memorable and proud time" of her 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. 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 while sharing her resignation letter. 

Citing personal reasons and circumstances at home, Bajrang also resigned from his job in the Northern Railways and said that he was grateful for their guidance. 

Commenting on Vinesh and Bajrang's entry into politics, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said that it is their personal choice as to whether they want to contest assembly elections or not.

Gupta said that both Vinesh and Bajrang have made the nation proud and are good wrestlers. Furthermore, he said that he hopes that Vinesh and Bajrang would do something good for politics.

BJP MP and former Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar claimed that the athletes got trapped in a political maze during the protests, referring to the wrestlers' protest last year against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. 

They accused Singh of harassing several young junior wrestlers. "These people (wrestlers) are seeking a ticket from the Congress. This means that there is a nexus. If it wasn't clear then. it is absolutely clear now," he said. 

Vinesh Phogat was last in the news after she tragically missed out on an Olympic medal when she was disqualified for being 100 grams overweight. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed her petition to be awarded a joint silver, after which she quit wrestling.

After this, Congress veteran and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda proposed sending her to the Rajya Sabha in recognition of her achievements.  Phogat, however, is ineligible to be a Rajya Sabha MP due to her age. Haryana assembly elections will be held on October 5 and the results will be declared on October 8.