Gurugram: Amid the ongoing controversy over the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Wednesday visited an akhara in Chhara village in Haryana’s Jhajjar district, where he ‘wrestled’ with Olympian Bajrang Punia.
Punia — who is from Khudan village, nearly 30 km away — had his initial training at this akhara from coach Virender Singh, as did international wrestler Deepak Punia, who comes from Chhara.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter) after the visit, Gandhi wrote in Hindi: “After irrigating the soil with his blood and sweat along with years of hard work, patience and unmatched discipline, a player brings a medal for his country. Today, I reached brother Virendra Arya’s akhara in Jhajjar’s Chhara village and held discussions with Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and other wrestler brothers.”
He added: “There is only one question — if these players, the daughters of India, have to leave the fight in their Akhara and fight for their rights and justice on the streets, then who will encourage their children to choose this path?”
Speaking to ThePrint over the phone, coach Virender Singh said that Gandhi dropped in suddenly a little after 6 in the morning when local wrestlers were practising, and stayed for nearly a little over two hours. He also tasted ‘bajra roti and sarso ka saag’.
“Bajrang Punia had arrived at the akhara minutes before Rahul Gandhi’s arrival. Punia had informed me in advance that he would be coming this morning. However, he didn’t reveal Gandhi’s impending visit. He did tell me that an important person was coming with him,” said Singh.
Gandhi’s visit comes in the backdrop of a controversy surrounding the election of Sanjay Singh — a close confidant of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — as WFI chief last week.
Punia, alongside fellow wrestlers Sakshee Malikkh and Vinesh Phogat, had spearheaded a prolonged agitation at Jantar Mantar earlier this year against Brij Bhushan, accusing him of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. The Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against the MP in June this year.
Immediately after Sanjay Singh’s election on 21 December, Malikkh announced at a press conference at the Press Club of India that she was quitting the sport, placing her boots on a table at the venue. The next day, in support of Malikkh, Punia left his Padma Shri on a footpath on Kartavya Path in Delhi when he was unable to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to “return” it.
While the sports ministry suspended the newly elected WFI body Sunday, Phogat announced Tuesday that she would also “return” her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Award to the prime minister, saying the awards had become meaningless for her now.
‘Seeking to capitalise on controversy’
Gandhi’s visit to the akhara in Haryana follows a visit by his sister, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to Malikkh’s Delhi residence a day after the latter announced her decision to quit wrestling.
भारत की एकमात्र ओलंपिक पदक विजेता महिला पहलवान साक्षी मलिक के दिल्ली निवास पर कांग्रेस महासचिव श्रीमती @priyankagandhi जी के साथ जाकर बहन @SakshiMalik और भाई @BajrangPunia का हौसला बढ़ाया और उन्हें आश्वासन दिया कि हम न्याय की इस लड़ाई में आपके साथ खड़े हैं। pic.twitter.com/JpaQO8yNHl
— Deepender S Hooda (@DeependerSHooda) December 22, 2023
Speaking to ThePrint, Hemant Atri, a political observer from Haryana, said, “It is very clear from these visits that the Congress is seeking to politically capitalise on the controversy. This is the reason Rahul Gandhi reached Chhara Akhara in almost zero visibility due to heavy fog in the morning.”
He said that the present issue gives the Congress an opportunity to woo several categories of voters in one go. The wrestlers’ issue concerns Jats, women, youth and sportspersons, said Atri.
Haryana is scheduled to hold assembly polls in October next year, five months after the country is expected to vote in the general elections.
Sanjay Sharma, spokesperson of the Haryana BJP, alleged that Gandhi’s visit to the Akhara was nothing but an attempt to do politics over the wrestlers’ issue.
“The BJP government at the Centre has shown all seriousness on this issue. The government ensured an FIR against its MP, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The sports ministry suspended the newly elected WFI led by Sanjay Singh and told the former WFI chief to stay away from wrestling politics. As far as the allegations against him are concerned, the court is looking into it,” said Sharma.
He said that ever since the wrestlers began their agitation at Jantar Mantar earlier this year, the Congress has been doing politics.
However, Bhupinder Singh Hooda — leader of the Opposition in the Haryana assembly and former chief minister of the state — said that Gandhi had gone to the akhara to meet young wrestlers and see how they prepare for the sport.
“There is nothing new in Gandhi’s visit. He has paid sudden visits to different categories of people in the past, too. He went to farmers in Sonipat, he met truck drivers and he also met auto mechanics. To see his visit to an akhara in Jhajjar in Haryana as part of politics is unfortunate,” said Hooda.
Also read: Why Haryana khap has challenged Bajrang Punia to a dangal ahead of Asiad