A political slugfest ensued in New Delhi after wrestler Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement following her disqualification from the Paris Olympics, with Congress hinting at a conspiracy behind it and some of its leaders demanding that the wrestler must be nominated to the Rajya Sabha. Following this, Babita Phogat, Vinesh’s sister, lashed out at the grand old party saying that “someone should learn from Congress how to find political opportunities in a disaster”.
This comes after Congress MP Deepender Hooda and his father and former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that Vinesh Phogat should be nominated to the Rajya Sabha and that the party would have already done it by now if it had the numbers in the state assembly.
Reacting to this, Babita Phogat posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Aapada mei rajneetiik avsar dhoondna koi congress se seekhe (Someone should learn from Congress how to find political opportunities in a disaster). On one hand, the country and Vinesh are not able to recover from the shock of being disqualified from the Olympics and on the other hand, Dipendra ji, you and your father have started doing politics over Vinesh’s defeat. “
Calling it “shameful,” she said: “Vinesh is the champion of champions and the Congress party is the champion of politics who is not even affected by the pain of the players.This is very worrying!”
Reacting to the statement made by the Congress leaders, Vinesh Phogat’s uncle Mahavir Phogat had also hit out at the party, calling their move a “political stunt”.
“Today Bhupinder Hooda said that he would have sent Vinesh to the Rajya Sabha if he could. Why did he not send Geeta Phogat when his government was there?” Mahavir Phogat asked.
“Geeta Phogat set many records. When the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government was in power, he did not even make Geeta a deputy superintendent of police. How can Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda now claim this?,” he added.
Earlier today, the opposition had also staged a walk out of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on Thursday after Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar did not permit the discussion of Vinesh Phogat’s setback in the Upper House. In the Lower House, the opposition walked out after Union Sports Minister Mansukh Madaviya read out a statement over Phogat’s disqualification, detailing the government’s expenditure on her training.
