Priyanka Gandhi encouraged me to wrestle again: Vinesh Phogat at rally

Congress general-secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday made an emotional appeal to women voters in Haryana's Julana by sharing anecdotes of her visit to a farmer’s home, praising the determination of the women of the state. Priyanka was campaigning for Congress candidate and former Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat in the poll-bound state, where elections are scheduled for 5 October.

Commending Phogat on her resilience following the recent incident at the Paris Olympics where the wrestler was denied a silver medal for being 100 gm overweight, Priyanka also attacked the BJP on its controversial agriculture laws, the Agnipath scheme, and unemployment.

Speaking about her visit to a farmer's home, Priyanka said she met him when her daughter was enrolled in a basketball coaching camp in Haryana, and he was working in a nearby field. “The old man who I called daadu (grandfather) was harvesting his crop. I went up to him and asked him to teach me how to harvest crops. He didn't know who I was, but he agreed and after some time, took me to his house. His entire family greeted me as one of their own,” she said.

“I had spent four or five hours there when their son Manoj came in. He had worked for the Congress in Rae Bareilly and immediately recognised me. Almost eight years have passed since then, but Manoj and his daadu and daadi still visit my home. This is the culture of Haryana. This is how affectionate Haryana’s people are,” Priyanka said.

The Congress leader also praised Phogat, who is making her political debut from Julana. “Vinesh was strong throughout her journey. She was broken, but stood up and went to the Olympics. Modi ji’s police dragged her by the hair through the streets of Delhi, but she emerged stronger. She played in the Olympics and defeated Japan’s gold medallist.

"When she returned to India, she told me she was shattered, and sought my advice on joining politics. I told her she must join and she must contest, not for her sake but for the sake of all the daughters of Haryana, all the women of Haryana,” Priyanka said.

She also attacked the BJP government at the Centre, saying, "Today, you are being betrayed on every level. Prime Minister Modi, who introduced the three black farm laws, did not visit you even once when you (farmers) were protesting just a few kilometres from his residence. He knew those laws would only benefit big businessmen, not farmers. They repealed those laws only when the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections approached,” Gandhi said.

Phogat said when she and other wrestlers protested in Delhi last year to get a sexual assault case registered against former BJP MP and then Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Haryana Congress leader Deepender Hooda “came running to us to check if we were alright”.

“When we have such a brother by our side, I am sure you all will bless us. I assure you all that I will return your love many times over. You must have seen me competing in the Olympics. Priyanka Gandhi played a major role in my participation. When I met her, I told her ‘Didi, I am so badly shattered that I feel I should leave this country’,” Phogat said.

“Didi told me the story of her father. She told me that she also felt that this country had not done justice to her and her family then. But when she stepped out on to the streets, she felt the entire country was there to share her pain. She told me the entire nation cannot be wrong, and that this country will shower immense love on me too,” Phogat added.

“She encouraged me to wrestle again. That was the day a shattered girl entered the room but stepped out as Durga. I am new to politics. Don’t think I am praising the Congress because I have joined the party. But from the bottom of my heart, I have felt that Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and all senior Congress leaders are like my family,” the now retired wrestler said.

In Julana, Phogat is up against the Aam Aadmi Party’s Kavita Rani, a WWE wrestler, the Indian National Lok Dal’s Surender Lather, the BJP’s Yogesh Kumar, and the Jannayak Janta Party’s Amarjeet Dhanda, who is also the incumbent MLA.