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' Vinesh Phogat, the sports icon who became the fierce face of an anti-sexual harassment protest and retired from wrestling after a shocking 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 BJP 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 his Jannayak Janta Party. Thursday was the last date for filing nominations for the October 5 elections.
"In wrestling, we have learnt that never take your opponent lightly," Phogat, the centre of national heartbreak when she was disqualified after she was found 100 gm over the weight limit on the day of her final bout in Paris, 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 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 in the constituency, said.
Dalal represented India in weightlifting in the 2016 South Asian Games and won a gold medal. She later moved to professional wrestling and was trained at the Jalandhar Academy of former WWE star Dalip Singh Rana, known as the 'Great Khali.' She competed in the Mae Young Classic in 2017 and later made her name in WrestleMania and WWE.
Julana assembly constituency in Jind district is considered the Jat heartland of Haryana. Of the 1.85 lakh voters in the Julana segment, 40 per cent of them belong to the Jat community. People belonging to the Brahmin and the Scheduled Caste also have a significant presence in the constituency.
Bairagi, 35, is currently the vice president of Haryana BJP's youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) and co-convenor of the BJP Sports cell. He said he will work hard to ensure victory for the BJP in the upcoming elections. He also appealed to voters of the Julana constituency to give him a chance to serve them.
JJP nominee and sitting legislator Amarjeet Dhanda said people were quite happy with the work he undertook in his constituency. Whatever was possible within his means as an MLA, he tried to do that, he said. He said he is available round-the-clock available to people of his constituency. Dhanda also sought to downplay the entry of the Olympian in the electoral contest from Julana and said the people of the constituency would again give him their blessings.
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