BJP leaders got us permission to protest at Jantar Mantar: Punia

Wrestler Bajrang Punia, now the working president of the All-India Kisan Congress, has alleged that two BJP leaders got the wrestlers permission to protest the goings-on in the wrestling federation at Jantar Mantar last year, indicating it was not a “Congress conspiracy”.

No Congress conspiracy

There is an official record to substantiate my claims. So, contrary to the allegation that the Congress was behind the wrestlers’ protest, it was the BJP leaders who conspired against their own party. Bajrang Punia, Congress leader

“There is an official record to substantiate my claims. So, contrary to the allegation that the Congress was behind the wrestlers’ protest, it was the BJP leaders who were conspiring against their own party. Two of their leaders got us the permission to protest at the site,” he said.

Speaking to The Tribune, Punia, a bronze medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, said he did not want to go into the allegations of a “Congress conspiracy” and questions about Vinesh Phogat and his wrestling career being raised by former wrestling federation chief Brij Bhushan Sharan.

“At this time, he is irrelevant to us. Yes, what happened with the wrestlers at the Jantar Mantar is a big election issue in the state and the country since we have sisters and daughters in every house. The BJP has been suffering for ‘protecting’ Sharan, but the public knows the truth. All eyes are on Julana and Vinesh has to win to be able to take the voice of injustice from the roads to echo in the Vidhan Sabha,” he said. Vinesh is contesting the Assembly elections from the Julana seat in Jind district.

Maintaing that the journey from the wrestling mat to the political battlefield has been tough, Punia said: “Both of us could have been still playing the game. We could have been grappling on the mat rather than dealing with the politics if the government at the Centre had heard us out and addressed our grievances. However, that was not to be.” He added that because all their pleas and protests fell on deaf ears, they decided to make the big switch.

Punia said they had decided between themselves that only one of them would fight election. “Vinesh was the obvious choice between the two of us because we are driven by raising the voice of injustice against the girls who are forced to suffer in silence,” he said.

As he juggles between managing Vinesh’s election and his new-found responsibility as a farmer leader in the Congress, Punia maintains that he give his best to the duty his party assigns to him. “The farmers get nothing after selling their produce. I am a farmer’ son and I know that the MSP guarantee is the only way forward,” he said. Justifying joining the Congress, Punia said the party and its leaders stood by the “daughters who were being dragged on the roads and beaten up at Jantar Mantar”. “The Congress was therefore the natural choice,” Punia added.