Gurugram: The cameras clicked, the drums roared, and the flower petals showered as a deafening crowd welcomed Vinesh Phogat, right after she stepped out of Delhi’s IGI Airport on Saturday. Back home, the Balali village felicitated their daughter with a gold medal in honour of her exploits in Paris.
And then, there were absentees: Not a single leader of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Haryana was present at the roadshow held to felicitate the wrestler, whose emotional roller coaster in the Olympics had the country riveted to televisions.
Among those who kept a distance were her cousins Babita Phogat, a former wrestler who contested from Dadri as a BJP candidate in 2019 and is a poll aspirant again, and Geeta, Ritu, and Sangeeta.
Their father and Vinesh’s uncle Mahavir Singh Phogat, a pioneer for women’s wrestling, was, however, present at Balali when the wrestler’s convoy arrived there. Vinesh hugged him on seeing her ‘Tau’ (father’s elder brother) at the village.
With Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda perched on the top of her SUV and his MLAs and ticket aspirants hijacking the roadshow, a section of social media users lambasted the Congress party for the spectacle in an election year. A social media user posted Sunday the message — ‘Seedhi Baat, No Bakwas’ — with a cartoon showing Deepender Hooda firing at a target using Vinesh’s shoulder.
In fact, Deepender was by her side at every moment in the IGI Airport. He was the only person allowed to escort her from inside the airport. The five-time MP presented Vinesh a mace and posted videos on his social media handle on ‘X’.
Soon after emerging out of the airport along with Deepender and her husband Somvir Rathi, Vinesh met Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, both companions during her Jantar Mantar protests last year, and her mother Prem Lata. Seeing them, Vinesh burst into tears.
When the convoy left for Balali in Charkhi-Dadri, Deepender, Vinesh, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia (who is also Vinesh’s brother-in-law) were seated on the bonnet of a Mercedes G-Wagon SUV.
Vinesh was felicitated at 10 different locations from the airport to Dwarka. Deepender parted from the convoy at Dwarka as he left for Pundri, where he had to attend the ‘Haryana Maange Hisaab’ (Haryana demands accountability) Yatra, according to a member of his team.
From Dwarka, Vinesh’s convoy entered Badshahpur assembly segment of Gurugram in Haryana. Vardhan Yadav, an aspirant of the Congress ticket from Badshapur, welcomed the wrestler. During her journey onwards, several Congress candidates considered close to the Hoodas felicitated her at Basai and Dhankot.
Next came Jhajjar district, where Congress MLA from Badli, Kuldeep Vats, along with four other ticket aspirants, welcomed her. In Badli, Manraj Gulia from Ladpur village of Jhajjar, a strong contender for the Congress ticket, also gave her a grand welcome.
When Vinesh’s convoy entered Jhajjar city, Congress MLA Geeta Bhukkal was present at the T-point on Kosli Road. She embraced and welcomed Vinesh. The Congress MLA also embraced Bajrang Punia, a native of Khudan village of Jhajjar district.
Similarly, in Charkhi Dadri, several ticket aspirants, including Independent MLA Sombir Sangwan, who supports the Congress, eagerly awaited Vinesh’s arrival late in the night. Sombir is currently seeking a Congress ticket from Dadri under Hooda’s camp.
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BJP leaders stay away
As the convoy passed by assembly segments like Badshahpur in Gurugram, represented by BJP leader and former minister Rao Narbir Singh from 2014 to 2019, no BJP leader was present to greet Vignesh. So were Manish Yadav who contested in 2019, former CM Manohar Lal’s OSD Jawahar Yadav, all BJP poll aspirants this time.
Former minister and BJP’s national secretary O.P. Dhankar, who represented Badli from 2014 to 2019, too, stayed away.
Dadri is where Haryana minister J.P. Dalal, an MLA from Loharu, lives, and Vinesh’s cousin Babita is a poll aspirant this time. They, too, skipped the roadshow.
Babita and Geeta Phogat had posted messages on ‘X’ targeting Vinesh indirectly, while Geeta’s husband Pawan Saroha criticised the Olympian for not mentioning her ‘Tau’ in a 3-page note she had posted expressing gratitude to those who helped in her wrestling journey.
“Vinesh, you wrote very well, but it seems you have forgotten your uncle, Mahavir Phogat, who started your wrestling journey. May God give you wisdom and clarity,” Saroha posted on ‘X’, tagging Vinesh’s 3-page note with the message.
Geeta reposting her husband’s post, wrote a couplet in Hindi: ‘The result of actions (Karma) is simple: Deceit begets deceit. If not today, then tomorrow.’
Babita also posted a Hindi couplet on her ‘X’, saying, ‘Every success is a defeat if its purpose is only to put others down.’
She also reposted a message on ‘X’ by Saurabh Duggal, a Chandigarh-based sports journalist and author of the book ‘Akhada’ on Mahavir Phogat, with a picture showing a young Vinesh and her four cousins.
Mahavir Phogat & his trainees (daughters & nieces)
Standing (from left): Priyanka, Vinesh & Ritu.
Sitting (from left): Babita, Mahavir & Geeta.Photo (By Samuel) taken in Sep-2009@geeta_phogat @BabitaPhogat @Phogat_Vinesh @PhogatRitu pic.twitter.com/My7fD7SiRN
— Saurabh Duggal (@duggal_saurabh) August 16, 2024
Both the Phogat sisters, however, were criticised by social media users for their messages.
In January 2023, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sakshi Malik had accused the then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment and started a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
The Congress party had extended full support to these wrestlers. About four months later, when these wrestlers once again took a stand against Brij Sharan, Deepender Hooda had openly backed them. Congress’s former president Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had reached Jantar Mantar in solidarity with the protesting wrestlers then.
At that time, no BJP leader supported the troika of wrestlers leading the stir. Later, Sakshi had announced voluntary retirement as she poignantly put the shoes on the table at a press conference. Vinesh, too, has announced her retirement from the sport on social media after being disqualified in the Paris Olympics.
Following this statement, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda demanded that Vinesh be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha, a statement which Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini described as an attempt to play politics over Vinesh’s misfortune.
The BJP purportedly made Mahavir Phogat post a video message from the party’s official ‘X’ handle where he alleged how the senior Hooda gave posts of Inspector and Sub Inspector to his daughters Geeta and Babita while they deserved the posts of DSP.
Saini, who had earlier promised to felicitate Vinesh with cash and other benefits at par with those who won a silver medal, posted another video on ‘X’ on Saturday. “We are proud of our daughter Vinesh Phogat. We will ensure that no respect is lacking for her. As for the Congress, their work is to politicise every issue,” the chief minister said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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