Gurugram: Ahead of the Haryana assembly elections, Congress candidate from Julana constituency and former wrestler Vinesh Phogat claimed that after being disqualified from the 2024 Paris Olympics for being overweight by 100 grams, she refused to take a call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of certain conditions set by Indian officials.
In an interview to news outlet The Lallantop, Phogat claimed that the officials wanted to post her conversation with the Prime Minister in the form of a video on social media and hence, she refused to take the call.
Supriya Shrinate, chairperson of Congress’s social media and digital platforms, posted the interview Wednesday on X with the caption: “Vinesh Phogat’s honour has grown a little more today. She refused to talk to Narendra Modi over the phone.
“Because Modi’s team wanted to record the call and gain praise on social media. Such courage and spirit can only be found in a lionhearted daughter of the nation. Well done, Vinesh! Shame on Narendra Modi.”
विनेश फोगाट का सम्मान आज थोड़ा और बढ़ गया
उन्होंने नरेंद्र मोदी से फ़ोन पर बात करने से इंकार किया
क्योंकि मोदी की टीम कॉल रिकॉर्ड करके सोशल मीडिया पर वाहवाही बटोरना चाहती थी
यह हिम्मत और जज़्बा देश की एक शेरनी बेटी के अंदर ही हो सकता है
शाबाश विनेश!
लानत है नरेंद्र मोदी pic.twitter.com/pqIbo8zWZz
— Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) October 2, 2024
In the interview, Phogat was asked if the Prime Minister spoke to her after she missed out on a medal at the Olympics. She smiled, said there was a call, but she refused to take it.
Surprised, the interviewer asked, “You didn’t pick his (Modi’s) call?”
In response, Phogat said, “He didn’t call directly. Officials from India called me and said that he (PM) wanted to talk. I said okay. They put a condition before me that no one from your side will be present.” Phogat explained that she was informed that a team of two people would be involved—one to shoot the video and another to facilitate the conversation. “It was meant to be posted on social media. After hearing this, I said sorry.”
She added that she didn’t want a joke to be made out of her emotions.
“If he truly had sympathy, he could have spoken without recording, and I would have been very thankful. Perhaps, they knew that if I spoke, I would have held him accountable for the past two years when wrestlers were protesting. They could have edited the recording to suit their narrative, but I wouldn’t have done that,” she said.
Phogat’s statement came days after she stated that post being disqualified from the Olympics, the Indian contingent did not offer her any assistance. She was asked if she had legal options after being found overweight by 100 grams at the Paris Olympics.
Phogat responded that a friend involved in international sports approached her, saying that such options existed. Asked if the Indian representatives present at the event helped her, she said, “No, they came later. I filed the case. Their lawyers arrived later.”
Former Solicitor General Harish Salve, who was appointed to assist Phogat, responded to her claims. In an interview to a news channel, Salve said he wanted to challenge the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)’s decision in the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, but Phogat through her lawyers refused to proceed with any further legal action.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
Also Read: Politics thicker than blood in Phogat clan. Babita ready to campaign against Vinesh ‘if BJP wants’