‘Their personal decision, I also got offers…’ Sakshi Malik reacts to Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat joining Congress

Star wrestler Sakshi Malik on Friday reacted to the entry of her Olympians Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat into the Congress ahead of the Haryana state assembly elections, saying it was their personal choice to join politics.

Haryana State Elections 2024: Olympian Sakshi Malik on Friday reacted to her wrestling colleagues Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joining the Congress ahead of the Haryana state assembly elections. She said it was their personal choice to enter politics but she did not want to join politics as she wanted to achieve her cause for women in wrestling.

“It is their personal choice to join the party. I believe we have to make sacrifices. Our agitation, the fight for women, should not give any wrong impression… From my side, the agitation continues,” news agency ANI quoted the Olympic medallist as saying.

Sakshi revealed that she too received “offers” from various political fronts but decided not to accept them as she “believes in staying true to my fight for women in wrestling.”

“I have also received several political offers, but I wanted to see what I had started to the end. Unless the Federation is cleaned up and the exploitation of women stops, my fight will continue. The fight is sincere and will continue,” said the star wrestler.

Malik stated that she was fighting only one person, namely former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and would not join any political campaigns in the run-up to the Haryana elections.

“I am apolitical. I work in the railways. My fight was only against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. I am not associated with any party, so I will not join any party campaign,” Sakshi said.

Sakshi Malik, along with fellow Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, were at the forefront of last year’s wrestling protest against the alleged sexual abuse of female wrestlers, including a minor, then WFI leader and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Phogat and Punia join Congress

Meanwhile, star wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia formally joined the Congress on Friday, a day after they met former party leader Rahul Gandhi.

The two athletes joined the Congress in the presence of party general secretary KC Venugopal, spokesperson Pawan Khera and Haryana Congress leader Uday Bhan after a meeting with Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day. Speculations are rife that the duo will contest the upcoming Haryana elections, but the Congress has said that the Central Election Committee will take a decision on the matter.

Speaking to reporters after joining the Congress, Vinesh Phogat said she decided to enter the political fray because she did not want any other sportsperson to go through the same thing she had.

“I want to thank the Congress party… It is said that you realise who is with you in difficult times. When we were dragged on the road, all parties except the BJP stood by us,” she said.

“The pain that we have gone through, we stand with all the women who have gone through pain,” she added.

BJP has smeared our protests

Punia and Phogat took part in the protest against sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and then Indian Wrestling Federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.

“I could have stopped wrestling in Jantar Mantar because the BJP IT cell announced that we were exhausted. They said I wouldn’t do the nationals, but I did; they said I wouldn’t do the trials, but I did… They said I couldn’t go to the Olympics, but I did… Unfortunately, it wasn’t God’s will,” she said.

“I have been given the opportunity to serve the people of my country, this is a new inning. What we went through as an athlete, I would not want any other athlete to go through,” she said.

Phogat on Friday resigned from the Indian Railways, citing personal reasons.

The Congress and the AAP are currently in talks over seat-sharing for the Haryana elections.

Elections for 90 Assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

(With input from agencies)