Wearing a mustard yellow salwar kameez, sneakers cushioning his feet, Vinesh Phogat walked to Rajpura primary school, Jind. When the old man touched his head as a way of blessing, he stopped, bowed, and smiled. Next, he turned and asked some women, “Aur kaki, roti khake aayie ho (Ma’am, did you have breakfast before voting)?” The Olympian looks just as easy in the election ring as he does on the wrestling mat.
“I don’t need to fight. The pariwar (family) here in Julana and in Haryana is doing what is required,” he told CNN-News18 when asked how they are fighting the electoral challenges from BJP, AAP, etc. The polls in Haryana ended on Saturday evening with the results to be out. on the 8th of October.
Phogat’s belief may not be wrong. Across Julana’s constituency in villages, News18 met men, women and girls who connected with their stories. “Vinesh has merits…he motivates many girls with his achievements in the sports arena,” Ritu, a housewife, told News18 in Bedadkheda village.
Devinder, an entrepreneur in the education sector, nodded in agreement. “100 percent Vinesh will win…Because he has raised the prestige of the country and Julana…Has the media ever covered Julana before him? We have never seen national media channels here…Only because of Vinesh, we are in the limelight,” he said.
Mamta Bhardwaj, however, has a difference. “Yogesh has an advantage because he goes from village to village to help when needed,” he said accompanied by his daughter at the school near Julana’s main market.
Captain Yogesh Bairagi, a former defense 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 who has always sent a Jat to the state assembly.
The BJP is hoping for another non-Jat consolidation against the dominant Jats, like in the last two elections. However, Dr Vikram, an agricultural scientist, feels that now caste politics will not pay off. “There is anger against the BJP over the issues of pehelwan (wrestlers), kisan (farmers), and jawans (youths). It may not directly benefit the Congress everywhere, but they will be the main beneficiaries,” he said, adding that because most agriculture-dependent communities, minimum support price (MSP) and farmers’ agitation issues at this time may have won caste consciousness.
Phogat is also targeting voters beyond the Congress’s Jat base. A simple message to voters — Julana’s son-in-law was blamed during the wrestlers’ protest in Jantar Mantar and again in Paris.
Even his opponents acknowledge the power of this emotional messaging. “Even I have participated in supporting him in Jantar Mantar during the protest. What happened in Paris was wrong. But the voters know that this is an election to choose your representative. Who can solve your problems like bijli (electricity), education, and development, like AAP did in Delhi and Punjab. Emotions and sympathies cannot dictate democratic choices,” said Kavita Dalal. Dalal, a WWE wrestler herself, has been fielded by the Aam Aadmi Party to fight against Phogat.
Like Vinesh, Sonam and Nisha are also the bahu of Julana. Young voters want jobs and a corruption-free Haryana. “BJP ke bawah kharchi ke bina kaam hua, par mehangai bahut ho gayi hai. Gas ke cylinder Ujjwala wale sabko nahi milte (In BJP, work is done without bribery, but the price hike is increasing. Not everyone gets a cooking gas cylinder under the Ujjwala scheme),” Sonam said when asked whether the election was issue-based or personality-based.
Nisha, who is preparing for competitive exams, adds 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 work. My husband wants to join the Army. But first, the coronavirus pandemic and then the Agnipath scheme will interfere. This is the problem),” he signed off.
Voter Julana has given Vinesh the emotional support of an Olympian and the debutant politician is off to a good start in the election race. But many voters are also responsible for finding answers to their aspirations, as elected representatives.
