Chandigarh. Mahavir Phogat, uncle of female wrestler Vinesh Phogat and well-known wrestling coach, said that his niece should not have joined politics at this time and should have focused on winning the gold medal in the 2028 Olympic Games.
His remarks came after the Congress fielded Vinesh from Julana for the Haryana Assembly elections to be held on October 5.
However, Mahavir expressed confidence that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will come to power in Haryana for the third consecutive time. His daughter and Olympian Babita Phogat joined the BJP before the 2019 assembly elections. Commonwealth Games medalist Babita contested the 2019 assembly elections from Dadri but lost.
When asked about Vinesh joining the Congress, Dronacharya awardee Mahavir told PTI-Bhasha over the phone, “It is her decision… nowadays children take their own decisions.” He also claimed that when he spoke to Vinesh recently, she had no intention of joining politics. Vinesh and Olympian wrestler Bajrang Punia, who were at the forefront of wrestlers’ protests against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year, joined the Congress on Friday.
Mahavir said, “I wanted her to focus on her game and win a gold medal in the 2028 Olympics. I think she should not have entered politics now. I want her to continue wrestling.” When asked if his niece had consulted him before entering politics, Mahavir said, “There was no talk about this. If there had been, I would have advised her not to enter politics. But nowadays children take their own decisions.” On the claim of Congress ousting BJP from power in Haryana, he said, “When the results come on October 8, you will see. BJP will return to power.”