Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat-Bajrang Punia To Join Congress Today

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia are expected to contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections on a Congress ticket, according to sources cited by ANI.

Both athletes recently met with Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP. They are also scheduled to meet Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal in Delhi.

This meeting coincides with the Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) gathering on Monday to finalize its list of candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections.

Earlier, Vinesh Phogat had joined protesting farmers at the Shambhu and Khanauri borders between Punjab and Haryana. On asking about contesting the upcoming Haryana assembly elections, Phogat stated, "I will not speak on this, I will not talk about politics. I have come to my family. If you talk about this, you would waste their struggle and fight.

The focus is not on me today. The focus should be on the farmers, I request this. I am an athlete, I belong to the entire country. I have nothing to do with which state is going to the polls. All I know is that my country is suffering, and farmers are in trouble. Their issues should be resolved, and it should be the first priority of the Government to resolve this."

Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have been the face of the protests against ousted Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations by female grapplers.