Vinesh Phogat to contest Haryana elections on Congress ticket? Final decision likely today

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement after she was disqualified from the 50 kg gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweight

The Congress may announce its decision to field wrestler Vinesh Phogat for the upcoming Haryana assembly elections on Tuesday, according to party general secretary Dipak Babaria after a meeting of the AICC central election committee.

According to reports, the CEC meeting cleared 34 of the 49 names that it discussed. "We discussed 49 seats and cleared 34 of them, with 15 sent for further review. Of the 34 cleared, 22 are currently held by MLAs. The remaining names will be finalized in the next 2-3 days. We will provide clarity on Vinesh Phogat tomorrow. The candidate list will also be released within two days," he told ANI.

Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will also take a call on Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala.  The CEC will reconvene on Tuesday at 6 pm to continue discussions on the remaining seats.

Vinesh Phogat  announced her retirement after she was disqualified from the 50 kg gold medal bout at the Paris Olympics for being 100 grams overweight. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) also rejected her petition to be awarded a joint silver. There has been been widespread speculation about her entry into active politics, following in the footsteps of her cousin, Babita Phogat, who is a BJP MLA. Vinesh was also seen meeting the farmers who are protesting at the Shambhu border. "There is pressure to join politics. But I will decide after consulting my elders. When my mind is clear, I will think about what to do next as I am still in deep shock," Vinesh Phogat told reporters recently while referring to her disqualification from her gold medal bout in the 50 kg women's category at the Paris Olympics.

Simultaneously, the BJP conducted its own meeting at the party headquarters, focusing on the Haryana Assembly elections. The meeting was attended by key BJP leaders, including Union Health Minister and BJP National President JP Nadda, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, MP Biplab Deb, and other senior leaders from Haryana.

The Haryana assembly election will be held on October 5 instead of 1 to honour the voting rights and respect the traditions of the Bishnoi community, whose festival falls during this period.  The counting will be held on October 8.