2 wrestlers and a pilot battle in Jat-dominated Julana seat
CHANDIGARH: With two star women wrestlers and a pilot grappling for electoral victory, polls in Haryana’s Julana assembly constituency will not just be a political joust but also one of the most keenly watched in the state.
In the electoral ring are Congress’s Vinesh Phogat, the sports icon who became the fierce face of an anti-sexual harassment protest and retired from wrestling after a shock end to her medal campaign at the Paris Olympics, AAP’s Kavita Dalal, the first Indian woman wrestler to compete in the WWE, and BJP’s Yogesh Bairagi, a commercial pilot.
While Phogat enters the political arena with this election, Dalal, popularly known as Lady Khali, joined the Aam Aadmi Party in 2022 and Bairagi has been part of the Bharatiya Janata Party for about four years. It’s the first election for all three, all of whom are in their 30s.
Making up the fourth corner in the contest in the Jat-dominated constituency is Amarjeet Dhanda, the sitting MLA fielded again by the Jannayak Janta Party.
“In wrestling, we have learnt that never take your opponent lightly,” Phogat said after filing her nomination on Wednesday.
Phogat joined the Congress just ahead of the campaign along with Bajrang Punia, also at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest last year against then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The 30-year-old wrestler-turned-newbie politician, whose in-laws belong to Julana, said she will try and live up to the expectations of people. “They treated me more as a daughter than a daughter-in-law,” Phogat, the first Indian woman grappler to reach the Olympics final, said.
While Phogat is projecting herself as the ‘bahu’ (daughter-in-law) of Julana, Dalal said would like to seek votes as ‘beti’ (daughter). If the people of Julana ensure her victory, she will strongly raise their voice in the Vidhan Sabha, the 37-year-old former wrestler told journalists on Thursday in Julana.
Responding to a question on Phogat as a political opponent, she said she has no personal fight with the Olympian. “It is a fight between ideologies of political parties,” Dalal, from Malvi village, said.
Julana assembly constituency in Jind district is considered the Jat heartland of Haryana. Of the 185,000 voters in the Julana segment, 40% of them belong to the Jat community. People belonging to the Brahmin and the Scheduled Caste also have a significant presence in the constituency.