Political circles abuzz after Phogat, Punia meet Gandhi
The meetings came even as the Congress finalised its candidate list for the October 5 elections and negotiated with the AAP for a possible tie-up
Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and the Congress posted a photograph of the three together on Wednesday, fuelling speculation that the two wrestlers might contest in the upcoming Haryana elections on Congress tickets.
The two sportspersons also met Congress general secretary KC Venugopal and the discussions, according to a senior party leader, focussed on their possible constituencies.
The meetings came even as the Congress finalised its candidate list for the October 5 elections and negotiated with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for a possible tie-up.
“If possible, they should fight the polls,” said Congress’s Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria.
“I don’t know what discussions they had with KC Venugopal. But whatever solution comes out will be acceptable to everyone...The ultimate goal is to defeat the BJP, so the solution too would be like that...If possible, they would contest elections,” Babaria added.
According to two Congress leaders aware of developments, Punia might be offered the Badli seat while Phogat might fight either from Julana or Charkhi Dadri.
The Badli seat is held by the Congress, the Julana seat is held by the Jannayak Janata Party and the Charkhi Dadri seat by an independent.
“Both of them can fight from any seat they want. But for Punia, Badli seat would be more suitable. Vinesh, however, might face resistance from local Congress leaders in Julana,” said a Haryana leader, requesting anonymity.
Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, and double World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, along with Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik are the face of the marathon protest against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Last month, Phogat reached the finals of her category of wrestling in the Paris Olympics before being disqualified for being overweight by 100 grams.
Both Phogat and Punia are considered to have a tall standing in Haryana, especially among the Jat community.
The Congress is looking to dethrone the BJP, which is hoping for a third straight term.
On Tuesday, Babaria said there will be clarity on the candidature of the two wrestlers by Thursday.
The Congress’s central election committee has cleared the names of candidates for 66 seats out of the 90 till Tuesday, though they’re yet to be announced. The Congress and the AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks with the latter asking for 10 and the former willing to give seven.
Apart from the AAP, the Congress might also negotiate with the Samajwadi Party for one seat.
Voting on 90 assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.
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