Indian Olympic wrestlers Phogat and Punia enter politics, join opposition Congress

NEW DELHI – Indian Olympic wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the opposition Congress party on Sept 6, entering politics a year after protesting against the chief of the sport’s governing body in India over alleged sexual harassment.

The move came weeks after Ms Phogat’s emotional return home in August from the Paris Olympics, where she failed to make weight for the women’s 50kg freestyle final by 100g despite starving herself for a week.

It pushed the 30-year-old Asian Games gold medallist to

announce her retirement

from the sport and led to an outpouring of support, with hundreds of teary-eyed fans and wrestlers taking her on a roadshow to her village in northern India after she arrived in Delhi.

Their entry into politics also comes weeks before provincial elections in their home state of Haryana, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is seeking a third straight term in power.

“They have not only brought glory to the country in the sports field but have also fought a strong battle against injustice on the street,” Congress General-Secretary K. C. Venugopal told reporters after inducting the wrestlers into the party in New Delhi.

“Our fight will continue and we will win, in court and in life,” Ms Phogat told reporters. “I am proud to be with a party that stands with women and against any injustice.”

Mr Punia, 30, who won the bronze in men’s 65-kg wrestling at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, said: “The hard work that we did during the protests and in support of farmers, soldiers and the youth, we will continue that hard work for our country.”

Ms Phogat, Mr Punia and fellow wrestler Sakshi Malik, also an Olympic bronze medallist, were the face of

a months-long protest

demanding criminal action against the then chief of the Wrestling Federation of India Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.

Singh, who was also a federal lawmaker from the BJP, was charged with sexual harassment and criminal intimidation based on a case filed by six female wrestlers in June 2023.

He has denied any wrongdoing. REUTERS