Haryana assembly election: Who is Yogesh Bairagi? BJP candidate for Julana against Vinesh Phogat

Voting for the 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and votes will be counted on October 8.

Published on: Sep 11, 2024, 16:50:48 IST

By HT News Desk

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Julana assembly constituency in Haryana's Jind district has been getting a lot of attention after the Congress party decided to field wrestler Vinesh Phogat from there for the assembly elections. Anticipating a tough electoral fight, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) named Capt Yogesh Bairagi as its candidate in its second list of candidates announced on Tuesday.

Who is Yogesh Bairagi?

Hailing from Safidon in Jind district, he is currently serving as vice president and executive committee member of Haryana BJP's youth wing, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). The 35-year-old leader is also the convener of the party's Sports cell in the state.

Also read | Will keep proving Brij Bhushan 'wrong': Vinesh Phogat

Bairagi is also known for his social service during natural disasters and other emergencies. He was involved in relief and rescue operations during floods in Chennai and also participated in the “Vande Bharat” mission, a repatriation effort to rescue Indian nationals stranded abroad during the Covid-19 pandemic.

He claims that he was influenced by the success of the mission to join the BJP. Admiring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he claims that challenges faced by his native village, particularly unemployment, made him choose politics as a way to address the issue.

Also read | Discontent grows in Haryana BJP as party drops ministers, sitting MLAs in 2nd list for assembly poll

Currently a businessman, Bairagi holds a bachelor's degree in education. He is married and has a son.

"I want to express my gratitude to the senior leadership of the party for showing trust in me," Bairagi said, adding that “The Congress candidate (Vinesh Phogat) is also like our sister and till the time she played she made the country proud. We will work hard so that BJP wins. I appeal to the people of my constituency to show trust in me. The model with which I will work there will be a model of development”, Bairagi told ANI.

The constituency is dominated by the Jat community, with approximately 81,000 Jat voters. The seat also has significant populations of Backward Class (33,608) and Scheduled Caste (29,661) voters. Bairagi is a non-Jat and hails from the Backward class.

(With inputs from PTI)

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