Olympic wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia called on Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, in Delhi on Wednesday, fuelling speculations that the two might contest the upcoming Assembly election in Haryana on the party’s symbol.
The picture of the Mr. Gandhi flanked by two grapplers was shared on the official handle of the Congress party on social media platform X.
The development comes just a day after the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the Congress finalised its candidates on 66 seats. However, the party is yet to come out with a list of candidates as talks are on for a pre-poll alliance with the Aam Admi Party (AAP). On Wednesday, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Haryana Deepak Babaria met Rajya Sabha member and AAP leader Raghav Chadha for a fresh round of talks.
Refusing to speculate on the number of seats being offered to the AAP, Mr. Babaria said the two parties were looking for a common meeting point. “Unless it is a win-win situation for both parties, there cant be any forward movement,” Mr. Babaria said.
The AAP is said to have demanded ten seats mostly along the Haryana-Punjab border, the local AAP sources said that the party was offered five seats by the Congress, including Jind, Kalayat and Panipat (Rural).
So far, there is also no official word on the seats that could be given to the wrestler duo, who had become the face of the wrestlers’ protest against former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who also headed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). They had charged the former WFI chief of sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
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Local Congress leaders told The Hindu that Ms. Phogat, belonging to Charkhi Dadri Balali village, could be fielded from the district’s Dadri Assembly constituency or Julana Assembly constituency falling in Jind.
Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia might contest from the Jat-dominated Badli seat falling in his home district Jhajjar. Another source said that Mr. Punia could also be considered for Sonipat’s Rai Assembly seat.
The two wrestlers came closer to the Haryana Congress leaders during the agitation against the former WFI chief. Congress Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda was also present at the IGI Airport to welcome Ms. Phogat after she returned from Paris Olympics after her disqualification for being overweight. Former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had also advocated Rajya Sabha nomination for her.
The Congress put out a photograph of Mr. Gandhi with Ms. Phogat and Mr. Punia on its official X handle.
Published - September 04, 2024 12:29 pm IST
