Disqualified Indian Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat wins Julana seat

Disqualified Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat successfully contested the assembly elections in the Indian state of Haryana after she won the Julana seat on Tuesday (Oct 8). Phogat, disqualified for being overweight in the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling category at the Paris Olympics, successfully contested the Julana seat as a candidate of the Indian National Congress (INC) and got the better of Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Yogesh Kumar from the Julana seat by over 5000 votes. 

Having joined the INC after retiring from wrestling, Phogat’s battle with Yogesh Kumar was the highlight reel during the assembly elections of Haryana. According to the Election Commission of India website after 15 rounds, Phogat got 65080 votes, 6015 more than BJP candidate Yogesh (59065) to win the seat at the first attempt. INC’s main leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge had campaigned for the former wrestler from the Julana seat.

In 2023 she was part of the wrestler’s protest that protested against then Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan. Along with Phogat, Sakshi Mallik and Bajrang Punia also protested against the BJP-influenced WFI panel.

It has not been a happy couple of months for the Indian wrestler as she got disqualified for being overweight in the 50kg women’s freestyle wrestling. She had qualified for the gold medal match before being disqualified. After the disqualification, Phogat was in the limelight for refusing to speak on a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She also alleged that Indian Olympic Association (IOA) head P.T. Usha wanted to record her social post.

While Phogat’s win comes as a big win for INC, the Rahul Gandhi-led party is unlikely to return to power in the North Indian state. At the time of writing, INC is leading on 37 seats while BJP is leading on 48 seats, overall trailing by 11 seats in the 90-seater house.