Congress candidate and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat has secured the Julana assembly seat in Haryana. Her victory comes as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has surpassed the majority threshold in the Haryana assembly, leading in 48 seats, while Congress is ahead in 37.
The BJP’s strong performance in Haryana, poised for a third term in the state, has rendered exit poll predictions of a Congress resurgence inaccurate.
The counting of votes cast in the Haryana elections began at 8 am on Tuesday.
With a margin of over 6,000 seats, the Olympian defeated BJP’s Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former Army officer, and Aam Aadmi Party member Kavita Dalal, a former professional wrestler and member of the opposition INDIA bloc in the centre.
On September 6, Phogat, who experienced tremendous Olympic disappointment this year following her shocking disqualification, became a member of the Congress.
She was on the party’s candidate list only a few hours later. “I am starting a new innings. I want sportspersons don’t have to face what we had to go through,” she said.
Phogat led an extended protest against BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year.
She expressed gratitude to the Congress after her political entry and said, “It is only when times are bad that one finds out who is standing with them. When we were dragged on the roads, every party other than the BJP stood with us and understood our pain and our tears”.
The outcomes of the elections in Haryana are anticipated to be utilised by the winner to create a narrative in their favour in other states where votes are scheduled over the coming months. This is the first significant direct battle between the BJP and the Congress since the Lok Sabha polls.
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