Leading speculation around Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat‘s political future continues to build, especially after the recent meeting of the Congress Central Election Committee (CEC).
Following the meeting, AICC Haryana in-charge Deepak Babaria announced that the party’s list of candidates for the upcoming Haryana polls will be released within two days. Babaria also stated that the party would confirm on Tuesday whether Vinesh Phogat will contest the Haryana election on a Congress ticket.
Vinesh Phogat made headlines recently after her disqualification from the 50 kg gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweight. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) also rejected her petition to be awarded a joint silver.
“We discussed 49 seats and cleared 34 of them, with 15 sent for further review. Of the 34 cleared, 22 are currently held by MLAs. The remaining names will be finalized in the next 2-3 days. We will provide clarity on Vinesh Phogat tomorrow. The candidate list will also be released within two days,” he said.
After her disqualification, Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling on August 8. Since her return, there has been widespread speculation about her entry into active politics, following in the footsteps of her cousin, Babita Phogat, who is a BJP MLA.
Notably, the wrestler was also seen meeting the farmers, protesting at the Shambhu border and joining them.
Earlier, the Congress CEC meeting was held at AICC headquarters to select candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections. The meeting was chaired by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, with Rahul Gandhi and other CEC members in attendance.
The Haryana elections are set to take place in a single phase on October 5, with the counting of votes scheduled for October 8.
(With ANI inputs)
