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Akhada and beyond: Haryana poll battle with Vinesh in the ring
Vinesh Phogat's Olympic journey and political aspirations resonate in her hometown, as Haryana's wrestlers rally for change ahead of elections.
A thin sheet of asbestos does little to shield wrestlers from the evening sun at the barebones wrestling hall in Mamta Modern Senior Secondary School in Sonepat’s Rathdhana village. The sharp odour of sweat and latex is unmistakable, but it is not the most overwhelming sensation in this indoor sports arena.
Instead, it is Vinesh Phogat – peering from all corners. On the left, she is overpowering Cuban Yusneylis Guzman in the Paris Olympics semi-finals; on the right, she is looking on in disbelief after trouncing the hitherto unbeaten Japanese legend Yui Susaki; in the corner, she is walking off the mat after securing a win; and at the far end, she is basking under a shower of rose petals.
Rathdhana may be very far from the Champ de Mars Arena in Paris, where Phogat rose to great heights in this summer’s Olympics only to suffer a tragic heartbreak and disqualification, but unremarkable akhadas like these is where her journey began. It is on worn-out mats like these that she learnt the manoeuvres and countermoves that launched an extraordinary career as a grappler, and it is also emblematic of the next phase of her life – as a politician.
In the village, the heat has forced people to move their evening hookah and card games indoors. The cobbled alleyways are deserted. Posters of politicians are everywhere. Phogat is not contesting from here -- her constituency of Julana is another 100km away – but she is on everyone’s mind.
“Don’t mistake this quiet for indifference. This place will give a resounding support to the Congress,” said Rajesh Saroha, the chief coach and founder of this facility.
Haryana is set to vote in assembly elections on October 5. But the classic cocktail of caste, communalism and crime has been stirred this time by an unusual issue animating the electorate – the months-long protest by Haryana’s (and India’s) top wrestlers against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, also a strongman Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former parliamentarian.
The unprecedented protests that began in January 2023 have rocked Haryana in ways that are shaping the polls. And the face of this phenomenon is the Congress candidate from Julana – Vinesh Phogat. “She devoted her life to mat, and now it will love her back,” said Saroha.
An inspiration for womenSoon after Phogat’s Paris campaign was cut short, Saroha pulled down all other posters at the arena and replaced them with the 30-year-old’s cutouts. Deepika Saroha, his 23-year-old daughter and an upcoming wrestler, has no doubt it was the right decision. “She is an inspiration for girls like us. She has never shied away from a fight,” she said.
In this part of the world, wrestling is more than a sport. It is a way of life entwined with honour and valour that are at the core of the collective identity of many communities here. There are anywhere between 500-700 akhadas of varying capacities, each routinely honing the Olympic dream among youngsters.
“Wrestling is part of our cultural ethos. It’s a matter of pride to have a pehelwan in the house. To this day, villagers pool money and resources to fund the training of young wrestlers. Donations in the form of buffaloes, ghee and dairy products are common,” said Gian Singh, a former wrestler who represented India at the 1984 Olympics.
When Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and double World Championship medallist Phogat hit the streets against Singh in January 2023, this compact was disturbed.
“What the three wrestlers did was truly remarkable. They sacrificed their careers for the greater good. A lot of people claimed that the protest will bring down wrestling in Haryana, but that’s not true,” says Saroha.
Many centres across Haryana though, including Saroha’s, lost trainees as the protest raged on in the national capital. For a full year, the impasse between WFI and wrestlers ensured age-group Nationals were not held, leading to young wrestlers losing crucial gametime.
“I lost about 6-7 trainees, but same was the case after wrestler Sushil Kumar was arrested on murder charges. With time, the girls returned to akhadas,” adds Saroha.
The wrestlers wanted the arrest of Singh, a BJP MP from Kaiserganj who ruled Indian wrestling for 12 years, over allegations of sexual harassment of athletes. The 66-year-old faced a first information report (FIR) that detailed years of abuse and alleged that Singh offered to buy a wrestler supplements if she gave into his sexual advances, called a wrestler to his bed and hugged her, slid his hand down a woman’s shirt and goaded wrestlers to spend time alone with him during most tournaments. According to one of the complainants, most women wrestlers would avoid leaving their rooms alone during tournaments and would largely stick together to keep Singh’s advances at bay.
Despite their fame, the wrestlers repeatedly came up against the might of Singh. During a march to the new Parliament building onMay 28 last year, they were manhandled. Earlier that month, in a late night crackdown at the protest site, Delhi Police allegedly used force to drive the wrestlers away, forcing an emotional Punia to claim that he was ready to denounce his medals and national prizes. Singh has denied all charges and is currently out on bail. His son Karan Bhushan Singh won the Lok Sabha polls this summer, and his associate Sanjay Singh now heads WFI.
Anger over the wrestlers’ protests contributed to the BJP’s subpar performance in the Lok Sabha polls, when it failed to sweep the state for the first time in a decade and won five of the 10 seats. The Congress won the other five.
“The protest will certainly have a bearing on polls,” asserts Saroha. “Irrespective of the political affiliation, the way the three wrestlers were dragged on Delhi’s streets hasn’t gone down too well with people here.”
Punia and Phogat’s decisions to join the Congress ahead of the assembly polls has charged this conversation. The protesting wrestlers enjoy support in Sonepat and Jind – such as in Bab Bhola Das Akhada in Kharkhoda to Jhajjhar’s Dada Shyam Akhada, Rohtak’s Meher Singh Akhada to Sonipat’s Yudhvir Akhada.
Many of the wrestlers also hail from the Jat community, a dominant group that forms nearly a fourth of the state’s population and one that has largely backed the Congress.
“The previous government changed the sporting landscape of the state with its Padak Lao, Pad Pao (Bring medal, get jobs) scheme but over the past decade, it has been largely diluted. There’s rampant unemployment and jibs through sports quota have gone down. There’s no talent pathway scheme or scholarships for young athletes either,” says a coach, requesting anonymity.
Wrestling meets politicsTo be sure, this is not the first tryst between wrestling and politics. The BJP has in its arsenal wrestler Babita Phogat, who lost the 2019 assembly elections and 2012 London Olympics Bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt.
Their electoral results notwithstanding, the two, particularly Dutt, who won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics (60kg), remain colossal figures in Indian wrestling.
“Yogeshwar will forever be a hero for wrestlers in Haryana, even among those who don’t agree with his politics. It will be the same for Vinesh too. Babita is among the early flagbearers of women’s wrestling in the state. It is sad that politics has pitted Vinesh and Bajrang against Babita and Yogeshwar, but what these wrestlers have achieved will never be negated,” adds Gian Singh.
Coaches at the famed Chotu Ram Wrestling Academy in Rohtak, for instance, distanced themselves from the wrestlers’ protests. Last year, trainees from this centre were taken to Jantar Mantar in buses to stage a protest against Punia, Malik and Phogat for “ruining Indian wrestling”.
“The way she sidelined her uncle Mahavir Phogat was shocking. Wrestling is all about traditions and respect. You may choose a different path but respect shouldn’t be compromised. However, whether all this will impact voting patterns is hard to say,” said a coach, requesting anonymity.
Mahavir Phogat, who holds legendary status in wrestling circles, has hit out at former chief minister Bhupender Singh Hooda and alleged that the politician never helped wrestlers earlier.
“Politics is murky and not everything that is said should be taken on the face value. Yogeshwar, for example, criticised Vinesh over her Paris debacle after she had joined Congress. In a way, it was a BJP politician attacking a Congress politician. As a senior wrestler, Yogeshwar should have shared his views on the day she missed her weight. Don’t forget that the Phogat family is associated with BJP,” says Gian Singh.
But among younger sportspeople, the stature of the three protesters overshadows all controversy.
At Partap Singh Memorial Senior Secondary School in Kharkhoda, a group of boys are playing basketball. “We rechristened one of the wrestling halls in 2018. She has been coming here regularly to train. Needless to say, the boys look up to her with a lot of respect,” said Pradeep Dahiya, one of the coaches here.
On her visits here, Phogat would spend time with the young wrestlers, sharing trade secrets and nuggets of inspiration. “She would give everyone a lot of confidence. Now that she has entered politics, we hope she will understand the issues of young sportspersons,” said Urmit, a 19-year-old who has sparred with Phogat.
Back in Rathdhana, Haripriya Reddy is practising her moves on the mat. The 17-year-old from Telangana has had a tumultuous couple of years at the akhada – the number of young women grapplers has dwindled as alarmed parents have withdrawn their children. But Haripriya is unfazed.
“A lot of people said nasty things about her during that protest but it is not right to blame Vinesh didi,” she said. “Telangana is not exactly known for its wrestling, but everyone back home is aware of Vinesh’s achievements. Her fight (protest) was to make sport a safe place for girls and we will always be thankful to her. “
Next to her Tanya Phogat nods in agreement. Arguments about politics and Phogat’s party affiliation mean little to her.
“Didi tried everything she could in Paris,” said the 17-year-old from Rohtak’s Rithal village. The grappler has already undergone surgeries on both her knees, but is motivated by Vinesh’s bouts. “The way Vinesh recovered after every injury is a lesson,” she said. “Win or lose, she’ll be my hero.”
