Bajrang Punia Takes Charge As Working Chairman of All India Kisan Congress

Hours after joining the Congress party, Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia was made the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress on Friday. Announcing the development, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal tweeted: “Hon’ble Congress President has approved the proposal of the appointment of Shri Bajrang Punia as the Working Chairman of All India Kisan Congress, with immediate effect.”

Punia thanked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal for reposing “such a big responsibility” in him.

On X, Punia wrote in Hindi, “I will strive shoulder to shoulder with the crisis-ridden farmers, become a partner in their struggle and work as a true soldier of the organisation.”

His appointment has sparked speculations on whether he would also contest the forthcoming Haryana assembly election, as Congress named Vinesh Phogat from Julana.

Earlier, Punia and Phogat had led a protest of wrestlers against the then WFI chief and ex-BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023.

“Punia recalled that during their difficult times, Congress stood with them. What the BJP IT Cell is saying today is that we just wanted to do politics. We had written to all women BJP MPs to stand with us, but they didn’t come. We are paying the price for raising our voices for women, but now we know that the BJP stands with atrocities against women at Jantar Mantar and all other parties stand with us.”

Punia also attacked the BJP: “The day Vinesh qualified for the finals, the country was happy but the next day all were sad. At that time, one IT cell was celebrating.”