Dressed in a mustard yellow salwar kameez, sneakers cushioning her feet, Vinesh Phogat strides into the primary school of Rajpura, Jind. As elderly men touch her head as a way of blessing, she stops, bows, and smiles. Next, she turns around to ask a group of women, “Aur kaki, roti khake aayie ho (Aunt, have you had breakfast before coming to vote)?” The Olympian seems to be as much at ease in the election ring as she was on the wrestling mat.
“I don’t need to fight. My pariwar (family) here in Julana and in Haryana is doing the needful,” she tells CNN-News18 when asked how she is fighting the election challenge from the BJP, AAP, and others. The polls in Haryana ended on Saturday evening with the results to be out on October 8.
Phogat’s confidence may not be misplaced. Across the Julana constituency in village after village, News18 encountered men, women and young girls who connected with her story. “Vinesh has an edge…she motivated a lot of young girls with her achievements in the sporting arena,” Ritu, a homemaker, tells News18 in Bedadkheda village.
Devinder, an education sector entrepreneur, nods his head in agreement. “100 per cent Vinesh will win…Because she has raised the prestige of the country and of Julana…Did the media ever cover Julana before her? We had never seen a national media channel here…It is only because of Vinesh we are in the spotlight,” he says.
Mamta Bhardwaj, however, has a different take. “Yogesh has an edge because he has gone from village to village to help whenever needed,” she says accompanied by her young daughter at the school near Julana’s main market.
Captain Yogesh Bairagi, an ex-defence personnel, is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s challenger to Vinesh Phogat. A youth leader, Yogesh is from the backward classes and the only non-Jat candidate from Julana which has always sent a Jat to the state assembly.
The BJP is hoping for yet another non-Jat consolidation against dominant Jats, like in the last two elections. Dr Vikram, an agricultural scientist, however, feels this time the caste politics won’t pay dividends. “There is anger against BJP on pehelwan (wrestler), kisan (farmer), and jawan (youth) issues. It may not necessarily directly benefit the Congress everywhere, but they will be the principal beneficiary,” he says, adding that since most communities depend on agriculture, the minimum support price (MSP) and farmer agitation issue this time might win over caste consciousness.
Phogat too was targeting voters beyond the Congress’s Jat base. Her simple message to voters — Julana’s daughter-in-law was wronged during the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar and again at Paris.
Even her opponents acknowledge the power of this emotional messaging. “Even I had gone to support her cause at Jantar Mantar during the protest. What happened in Paris was wrong. But voters realise that this is an election to choose your representatives. Someone who can solve your problems like bijli (electricity), education, and development, just the way AAP has done in Delhi and Punjab. Emotions and sympathy can’t dictate democratic choices,” Kavita Dalal says. Dalal, a WWE wrestler herself, has been fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party to take on Phogat.
Like Vinesh, Sonam and Nisha are also bahus of Julana. The young voters want jobs and a corruption-free Haryana. “BJP ke under kharchi ke bina kaam hua, par mehangai bahut ho gayi hai. Gas ke cylinder Ujjwala wale sabko nahi milte (Under BJP, work got done without bribery, but price rise has soared. Not everyone gets cooking gas cylinders under Ujjwala scheme),” Sonam says when asked if the election is issue-based or personality-based.
Nisha, who is preparing for competitive exams, adds to this. “Baaki sab theek hai per hame naukri chahiye. Humare pati ko fauj mein jana hai. Par pehle corona, phir Agniveer aa gaya. Ye mudde hain (The rest is fine but we need jobs. My husband wants to join the Army. But first the coronavirus pandemic and then the Agnipath scheme got in the way. These are the issues),” she signs off.
Julana’s voters have given Vinesh the Olympian emotional support and the debutant politician a good start in the run-up to the electoral match. But many voters are also putting the onus on her to find answers to their aspirations, as their chosen representative.
