Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia meet Rahul Gandhi, likely to contest Haryana Assembly elections

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia are likely to contest the Haryana Assembly elections on Congress ticket, news agency ANI reported on Wednesday. They might resign from their posts today. Phogat and Punia met Lok Sabha LoP and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. They also met Congress General Secretary Organisation KC Venugopal in Delhi.

The meeting comes a day after the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) met to finalise its list of candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections. During the meeting, the CEC finalised 34 candidates, according to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Haryana, Deepak Babaria. He mentioned that the final list of candidates would be released by August 4.

Just four days ago, Olympian Vinesh Phogat joined the farmers' protest at the Shambhu border and showed them her unwavering support. Phogat was honoured with garlands by the farmers. Phogat and Punia were also among the wrestlers who demanded the removal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Several women wrestlers had accused Singh of sexually harassing them.