Ever since women wrestler Vinesh Phogat was disqualified in the Paris Olympics due to excess weight, she was destined to win a medal and the whole nation sympathised with her for missing the medal.
The disqualification of Vinesh Phogat created a flutter among the wrestling community. She was the first Indian woman wrestler to have reached the Olympics final.
To cash in on the sympathy generated around Phogat, Congress leaders in Haryana decided to field Vinesh Phogat in the Haryana Assembly election. When Vinesh returned from Paris, she was given grand welcome at the Indira Gandhi airport and those who welcomed her were Congress leaders. The most prominent among them was Deependra Hooda, the son of the former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda.
Vinesh like Hooda is a Jat and the Jats wanted Vinesh to contest the election. She was urged by the Jat farmers also to contest the election. The Congress scored over the BJP in getting Vinesh into their fold and the BJP had no clue that Vinesh could be a good candidate. But before she could be approached by the BJP, she had met the Congress leaders in Delhi and made up her mind . It was obvious that the Congress riding on sympathy wave for Vinesh would field her as its candidate in the Assembly elections.
Vinesh along with her wrestler husband Somvir met Congress Central leaders and she was pursued to contest the election by the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. She quit her job to join Congress and contest the Haryana election. The Congress has fielded her from Julana, which is the village of Vinesh's father- in- law in Jind district and has a sizable number of Jats in this predominantly rural constituency. Interestingly, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) has fielded Kavita Dalal, another toughie and India's first female World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) wrestler.
The BJP has fielded Capt Yogesh Bairagi. But the 30-year-old Vinesh who comes from a family wrestler of Baslali village in Chakri Dadri district is considered a favourite from the Julanaconstituency. Vinesh's opponent in the three-cornered contest Kavita Dalalwas originally a weightlifter and won the 75-kg gold medal in women weightlifting in the South Asian games in 2016. Another Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia, who also joined the Congress along with Vinesh, however is not contesting the election.
Punia has been made the chief of the farmer's cell of the Congress. Punia said both he and Vinesh discussed the issue of contesting the election and he decided thatonly one should contest the election and he favoured Vinesh. Vinesh and Bajrang are good friends and last year both of them spearheaded wrestlers protest against former Wrestling Federation of India's president Brij Bhushan Singh alleging sexual harassment by the former BJP MP.
Haryana is a very successful state and has produced numerous national and international champions. Haryana's athletes, despite being highly rewarded for their achievements, often become pawns for political parties seeking electoral gains. Haryana may be India's powerhouse of athletic talent, rewarding its medallists with hefty payouts, government jobs, and other benefits, but the sportspersons often fall prey to the political parties which use their fame and personality for political gains during elections.
Over the years, political parties have strategically leveraged the popularity of these athletes to boost their chances in challenging electoral battles. Wrestlers like Yogeshwar Dutt and Babita Phogat, hockey player Sandeep Singh, and boxer Vijender Singh are a few examples of Haryana's sporting icons who have been roped into political campaigns. Despite their star power, many of these athletes have struggled to secure lasting political careers. Vinesh Phogat's potential entry into politics seems to be a calculated move by senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who viewed her as a viable candidate for the Jat-dominated Julana constituency — a seat Congress has not won since 2005.
Congress was earlier planning to field Punia either from Badli constituency. However, the party has now appointed him as the Working Chairman of All India Kisan Congress. Vinesh and Bajrang's political presence could also serve as a countertop wrestler and Vinesh's cousin Babita Phogat, a BJP leader who unsuccessfully contested the same seat in 2019.
Congress is not carrying out a new experiment,but a look at the political career of former sportspersons reveal that they were lured by the political parties to win tough competitions. India's former hockey team captain Sandeep Singh, once hailed as “Soorma” (a giant) for his heroics on the field, helped BJP secure a victory in the Sikh-dominated Pehowa constituency in 2019—an achievement last managed by the Janata Party in 1991.
Sandeep even resigned from his position as DSP in the Haryana police to dedicate himself to politics. But a case of sexual harassment by a women coach faded his political career and for the upcoming elections, BJP dropped him in favour of an estranged Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader. Wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, an Olympic bronze medallist, faced a similar fate. He lost to three-time Congress winner Krishan Hooda. The defeat repeated itself in 2020 by-election, with Dutt losing to Congress's Indu Raj Narwal.
Meanwhile, boxer Vijender Singh, who won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics, has also struggled to make his mark in politics. In the 2019 general elections, Congress deployed Singh's star power in the South Delhi LokSabha seat, a BJP stronghold.
Singh finished third, receiving only 1.64 lakh votes. The story of Babita Phogat, a Commonwealth Games medallist and world wrestling bronze medallist, is no different. Riding a wave of popularity in 2019, she joined BJP and was fielded in the Dadri Assemblyconstituency— a seat the party hadn't won after 1977, when Hukum Singh won from there on BJP ticket. Phogat finished a disappointing third. BJP has now pinned its hopes on new sports star Deepak Hooda, former captain of the national Kabaddi team, and husband of boxer Sweety Hooda.
Hooda has been fielded in the Jat-dominated Meham constituency, a seat which BJP has not won since 1977.
Other sportspersons, like former cricketer Chetan Sharma and discus thrower Krishna Poonia, have also had mixed political fortunes. Sharma, who contested the 2009 Lok Sabha polls as a BSP candidate from Faridabad, lost. Poonia, who won a gold medal in the Commonwealth Games, began her political career in Rajasthan, but was defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections byOlympic silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. She however was elected to Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha,but lost in 2023 election.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
