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Vinesh has been meeting Congress leaders since she returned to India on 17 August from Paris, where she dazzled in the women’s 50kg event in the Olympics only to get heart-breakingly disqualified just before the final. read more
 "Vinesh Phogat fuels speculation of joining Congress after meeting ex-Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda")
Star wrester Vinesh Phogat met former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at his New Delhi residence. Image credit: X/@BhupinderShooda
Wrestling star Vinesh Phogat fuelled speculations of joining politics in the future after meeting Congress politician and former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupendra Singh Hooda at his New Delhi residence on Friday.
Hooda shared images of his meeting with the two-time world championships bronze medallist on his official account on X, formerly Twitter. The meeting led to rumours that Vinesh could join the party and contest in the Vidhan Sabha Elections in October, though the wrestler in question is yet to officially confirm the reports.
दिल्ली आवास पर देश की शान और प्रदेश का गौरव बढ़ाने वाली पहलवान खिलाड़ी विनेश फोगाट से सपरिवार शिष्टाचार भेंट हुई। @Phogat_Vinesh pic.twitter.com/rZTR5nBush
— Bhupinder S Hooda (@BhupinderShooda) August 23, 2024“An athlete does not belong to any particular party or state. An athlete belongs to the entire nation. She belongs to entire nation. It is her choice whether she joins any party or not. Whoever comes to Congress party, we always welcome him or her. It is her decision what she wants to do,” Hooda, who is the Leader of Opposition in Haryana, said according to The Indian Express.
Read | Vinesh Phogat likely to contest Haryana Assembly elections: Report
Vinesh has been meeting Congress leaders since she returned to India on 17 August from Paris, where she dazzled in the women’s 50kg event in the Olympics only to get disqualified just before the final. Rohtak Member of Parliament Deepender Hooda was the first politician to greet her at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, and had presented her a ‘Hanuman Gada’ as a symbol of victory before the 29-year-old grappler began her journey to her village of Balali in Haryana.
Vinesh had been one of the key faces in the wrestlers’ protest last year, in which the country’s top grapplers protested against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and six-time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Brij Bhushan had been accused of sexually harassing several female wrestlers and the protestors not only called for his removal, but for his arrest as well.
Vinesh had won all three of her bouts in the Paris Olympics earlier this month, halting Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Yui Susaki’s 82-match winning streak in her opening bout before beating Oksana Livach and Yusneylys Guzman in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively to become the first Indian grappler to qualify for an Olympic final.
Vinesh, however, was found to be overweight by a mere 100 grams during her second weigh-in the following day, despite resorting to extreme measures to cut weight. She later lodged an appeal against her disqualification at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), only for it to get dismissed by the Lausanne-based body.
Shortly after her disqualification, Vinesh announced her retirement from wrestling, though she has since hinted at reconsidering her decision.
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English (US) ·