Haryana elections: Vinesh Phogat needed morale booster, Congress ticket our token of gratitude to her, says Bhupinder Hooda

Bhupinder Singh Hooda said there was a wave of support in favour of the Congress in Haryana. (File Photo: PTI)

Senior Congress leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has defended the party giving a poll ticket to ace wrestler Vinesh Phogat for the upcoming polls, terming it a token of gratitude for her services to the country and the sport despite all odds.

Vinesh Phogat was inducted into the Congress along with fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia on September 6. While Vinesh will contest the Assembly elections from the Julana Assembly constituency, Punia has been appointed as the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress, the farmers’ wing of the party.

“Vinesh has been unfairly treated. I had told the BJP to nominate her to the Rajya Sabha as a brave face of our country. They did not do that. She needed consolation, a sort of morale booster. We have made her our candidate in appreciation, as a token of gratitude for her services to the country and the sport despite the odds, the public humiliation she faced,” Hooda told Hindustan Times in an interview.

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The four-time MP and the first leader from Haryana to return as CM for a second consecutive term, Hooda denied any political considerations on part of the Congress while deciding on giving a poll ticket to Vinesh.

“There’s no political vested interest. She would’ve won gold (if not disqualified for being 100 grams overweight). She’s already 30 years old. In celebrating her, we’re celebrating a brave daughter of India,” Hooda said.

The veteran leader, who filed his nomination from the Garhi Sampla Kiloi Assembly constituency in Rohtak district on Wednesday, also refused to admit any internal discord within the state unit of the Congress. Hooda has been opposed to the Congress tying up with the Aam Aadmi Party in the state, an idea proposed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and is reported to have had a significant say in the selection of candidates.

Asked if there was any rift between him and Congress colleagues like party MP Kumari Selja and Randeep Surjewala, Hooda said that the party stands united. “We are a democratic party in which differing points of view exist. Matbhed ho sakte hain, man bhed nahin hain (Differences can be there, but not discord). We all accept what our high command decides,” HT quoted him as saying.

He also denied any merit in the argument that the party should declare him as the chief ministerial candidate ahead of polls. “There’s a settled Congress policy that after the elections, central observers ask the newly elected MLAs about their leadership choice and report it back to the high command which decides on that basis. The name they announce will be acceptable to everyone,” he said.

Hooda is seen as among the top claimants within the Congress as Chief Minister if the party returns to power after a decade-long hiatus. Exuding confidence of a clear victory for his party, Hooda claimed there’s a wave in their favour with people saying the BJP’s going and the Congress returning to power.

Voting for Assembly elections in Haryana are scheduled to be held in a single phase on October 5 and the results are to be declared on October 8.