The political battlefield of Haryana has taken on the intensity of a wrestling arena, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) fielding a WWE wrestler Kavita Dalal against Congress’ Olympian Wrestler Vinesh Phogat from Julana constituency of Jind district.
The high-stake election in Julana, located in Jind district, now pits two celebrated athletes of the Jat community against each other, turning the political contest into an electrifying showdown. Kavita Dalal, a trailblazer in the world of professional wrestling, is being labelled as the first Indian woman to compete in the WWE, and she’s no stranger to gold herself—having secured the top spot in weight-lifting at the 2016 South Asian Games.
On the other side of the ring is Vinesh Phogat, the first Indian female wrestler to reach an Olympic final, making this contest a gripping match of willpower, popularity, and public support.
Adding further intrigue to the race, the BJP has nominated Captain Yogesh Bairagi for the Julana seat, turning the contest into a three-way battle of wits between a wrestler, an Olympian, and a military captain. With all three contenders boasting impressive résumés, the Julana seat is set to be one of the most fiercely contested in the Haryana Assembly elections.
Kavita Dalal, born in Malvi village, Jind, comes from a humble background, being one of five siblings. Despite nearly quitting sports after her first child’s birth in 2010, her husband’s encouragement helped her make a powerful comeback, culminating in her gold medal victory in weight-lifting six years later. Her journey from the wrestling ring to the political battleground has been nothing short of inspirational.
With the entry of the sportspersons the Haryana Assembly elections take a new shape making the electoral battle more intense. Accompanied by Deepender Hooda, Vinesh filed her nomination papers on Wednesday as she claimed that she was confident of winning her first election.
With nominations closing on September 12 and voting scheduled for October 5, both AAP and the BJP are pulling out all the stops to woo voters.
In its latest list, the AAP announced 21 more candidates for the elections, bringing the total to 61. Among the key names are Raj Kaur Gill from Ambala Cantonment, Sunil Bindal from Karnal, and Nishant Anand from Gurugram.
Meanwhile, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and Azad Samaj Party (ASP) alliance released their third list of candidates, fielding 18 more contenders for the October polls. In a significant move, the alliance has thrown its support behind former minister Ranjit Singh Chautala, who recently resigned from the BJP after being denied a ticket. Chautala, who was an Independent MLA from Rania, is now poised to contest as an Independent once again, backed by the JJP-ASP coalition.
Among the ASP candidates are Mandeep Topra from Radaur, Moti Yadav from Rewari, and Nisha Balmiki from Faridabad.