Haryana Assembly Elections 2024: Olympian Sakshi Malik Friday reacted to her fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat joining the Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls, stating joining politics was their personal choice but she won’t plunging into the political arena as she wanted to fulfill her cause of fighting for women in wrestling.
” It is their personal choice to join the party. I believe that we should make sacrifices. Our agitation, the fight for women should not be given a wrong impression… From my end, the agitation continue,” news agency ANI quoted the Olympic medalist as saying.
Sakshi revealed that she too “got offers” from several political fronts but decided not to take them up as she “believes in staying true to my fight for women in wrestling.”
“I also got several political offers, but I wanted to see what I started till the end. Unless the Federation is cleaned and the exploitation of women ends, my fight will continue. The fight is genuine and it will continue,” the star wrestler said.
Malik asserted that her fight was against only one person, former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and she would not join political campaigns ahead of Haryana polls.
“I am apolitical. I work in Railways. My fight was only against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. I am not linked to any party so I will not join any party campaign,” Sakshi said.
Sakshi Malik, along with fellow Olympians Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, was at the forefront of last year’s wrestlers’ protest against the alleged sexual abuse of women wrestlers, including a minor, by then WFI chief and former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Meanwhile, star wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia officialy joined the Congress on Friday, a day after they had meeting with former party chief Rahul Gandhi.
The two athletes joined the Congress in the presence of party general secretary KC Venugopal, spokesperson Pawan Khera and Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan following a meeting with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge earlier in the day. Speculations are rife the duo will contest the upcoming Haryana polls, however, the Congress has asserted that its Central Election Committee would take a decision in that regard.
Talking to reporters after joining the Congress, Vinesh Phogat said she decided to enter the political battlefield as she does not want any other sportsperson to go through what she endured.
“I want to thank the Congress party… It is said that you realise who is with you during difficult times. When we were being dragged on roads, all parties except the BJP stood with us,” she said.
“The pain that we have gone through, we stand with all women who have experienced pain,” she added.
Punia and Phogat were part of the protest over sexual harassment allegations against former BJP MP and then Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.
“I could have quit wrestling at Jantar Mantar because the BJP’s IT cell was publicising that we were spent forces. They said I did not want to play in the nationals but I did; they said I did not want to do trials, I did that… They said I could not go to the Olympics but I did… Unfortunately, it was not god’s will,” she said.
“I have been given an opportunity to serve the people of my country, this is a new inning. What we faced as a sportsperson, I would not want any other sportsperson to go through that,” she said.
Phogat on Friday resigned from the Indian Railways, citing personal reasons.
The Congress and AAP are engaged in seat-sharing talks for the Haryana polls.
Voting on 90 Assembly seats in Haryana will be held on October 5 and the votes counted on October 8.
(With inputs from agencies)
