Haryana polls: Is Rahul Gandhi offering Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia a Congress ticket?

Amidst intense speculation about the candidature of Vinesh Phogat in the upcoming Haryana assembly election, the Indian National Congress handle just put up a photo of Rahul Gandhi with Phogat and her ally Bajrang Punia on the morning of Wednesday, 4 September.

Phogat, Punia and other wrestlers who led the protest against the sexual harassment of women grapplers by former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh saw considerable support at the time from various political groups on the opposition side against the BJP — not least among them Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been a vocal advocate of their fight for justice and shared support for Phogat's sporting endeavours on social media repeatedly.

The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, the Assam Pradesh Youth Congress and various news agencies and websites followed suit.

While AICC general secretary in-charge Haryana Deepak Babaria hinted at the possibility on Tuesday, 3 September, in saying that there would be clarity on the matter by Thursday, most on social media are now sanguine of their participation.

The full-length image shows Gandhi and Phogat's hands clasped, while he and Punia have an arm around each other.

The speculation had already been strong since Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda arrived to welcome Phogat at IGI Airport in Delhi, complete with a ‘Hanuman gada’, on her return from the Paris Olympics.

The Congress' central election committee is yet to speak up officially, though, having cleared only the names of 66 candidates for the 90 seats in contention. The full list should be out by September 5.

Haryana goes to the polls on 5 October, with counting of votes on 8 October.