Indian wrestler Vinesh Phogat joined the Congress party as its Julana Vidhan Sabha candidate and will contest the upcoming Haryana assembly elections. Bajrang Punia, fellow wrestler, has also been appointed as the working President of the Kisan Congress.
The induction of the two wrestlers, especially Vinesh Phogat, just a month before the assembly elections and just a month after her Paris Olympics stint can prove to be a major impediment for the BJP in Haryana.
BJP has seen its votes dwindle in the northern state of Haryana in the past few years, as begotten by the gargantuan farmers’ protest, which attracted international coverage, and the more recent wrestlers’ protest against BJP party worker Brij Bhushan, who was then the President of the Wrestling Federation of India. The resentment towards the BJP that was triggered by the farm laws and the appointment of Brij Bhushan as President has now been cemented by the government’s insensitive and apathetic handling of the protests.
Vinesh Phogat generated a wave of countrywide sympathy for herself after she was disqualified at the 2024 Paris Olympics ahead of her gold medal bout for exceeding the permissible weight limit by 100 grams. Pictures of Phogat having a breakdown, and with cut hair, exercising, all in a bid to lose weight flooded the internet. Netizens on Instagram and X ran amok with their cries for a reconsideration, calling the Olympics board’s decision an unjust one, standing in solidarity with Phogat, arguing that “because it was only exceeding by 100 grams, she should have been allowed to compete, or at the very least, awarded a silver medal.”
The Paris fiasco and her appearance at the wrestlers’ protest with fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik have combined to form a convenient concoction of her public perception that can be broken down into numerous vote banks. She has become a face that reminds people of women’s empowerment and determination and, above all, a victim who is now bouncing back. Her saccharine retirement announcement on X stated, “Maa kushti (wrestling) won against me, I lost. Forgive me, your dream and my courage have been broken. I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling 2001-2024. I will always be indebted to you all for forgiveness.”
Now with her Haryana Rajya Sabha candidature, the Congress is undoubtedly vying for the women and farmer vote banks, eager to exploit the Phogat brand. Phogat is in touch with the Haryanvi sentiment, and she emerges as a local symbol of empowerment as opposed to Westernised manifestations of gender equality and progress. However, Phogat won’t be the first famous personality to join politics. In the past, famous personalities like Hema Malini, Kangna Ranaut, Mimi Chakraborty, Gautam Gambhir, and Nusrat Jahan Ruhi have all been members of the upper and lower houses. Famous Indian personalities turned politicians are notorious for lower attendance in the house, lower participation in debates, and fewer questions asked compared to the national averages. Politics has long been the aspiration of the avaricious, much like a dog salivating for a bone. The inaccessibility of entry into politics in India has kept the common person away from it, and the votes that come with an already famous person joining a political party have attracted political parties towards these personalities. However, movie artists and sportspersons have seldom fared well in the Parliament. Joining politics cannot be treated as just a retirement plan, especially in a country where a large number of people still live below the poverty line. Cynicism seems to be the only reasonable deduction; however, hope surmounts all.
