'Congress will regret one day': BJP's Brij Bhushan on Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia joining party ahead of Haryana polls

A day after wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress, BJP leader Brij Bhushan warned that "the Congress will have to regret one day". He accused Phogat of "cheating" in wrestling and even called the 2023 wrestler's protest "a movement of Congress". He said, “…today, this thing has been proved true.”

Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were at the forefront of the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Phogat and Punia entered the political arena on Friday by joining the Congress with a vow of "not being scared or backing off".

A day after the development, Bhushan said, “On 18th January 2023, when the protest started at Jantar Mantar, I had said that this is not a movement of sportspersons, Congress is behind it, especially [Congress leaders] Bhupinder Hooda, Deepender Hooda, Priyanka [Gandhi], Rahul [Gandhi], this is a movement of Congress.”

The BJP leader said Bhupinder Hooda, Deepender Hooda, Bajrang or Vinesh "were not sitting [in protest] for the respect of girls". But "due to them, the daughters of Haryana are facing embarrassment," he said.

"They used daughters for politics, defamed daughters. They were not fighting for the honour of daughters, they were fighting for politics...," the formeer WFI chief said.

Accusing Phogat of cheating, Bhushan said, "I want to ask Vinesh Phogat whether a player can give trials in two weight categories in a day? Can the trials be stopped for 5 hours after the weigh-in?...You did not go there by winning in wrestling, you went there by cheating. God has punished you for the same," he said.

The BJP leader also asked, “Is it not true that Bajrang went to the Asian Games without trials?”

Phogat and Punia joined the Congress in Haryana as the 90-member state Assembly is scheduled to go to polls on October 5 and the counting of votes will be undertaken on October 8.

The Congress released its first list of 31 candidates for Haryana assembly elections on Friday and fielded former wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana. Within hours of his joining the party, Bajrang Punia was appointed working president of All India Kisan Congress.