Wrestler Vinesh Phogat Secures Victory for Congress in Julana Seat During Haryana Assembly Elections
Julana, 9th October 2024: Congress candidate and wrestler Vinesh Phogat secured victory in the Julana seat during the Haryana Assembly elections, as reported by the Election Commission on Tuesday.
Phogat triumphed over her BJP opponent, Yogesh Kumar, with a margin of 6,015 votes in her first electoral contest. Surender Lather, representing the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), finished third in this high-profile constituency located in the Jind district.
She began the counting process with a strong lead but briefly fell behind before regaining her advantage and ultimately winning comfortably.
In the previous election held in 2019, Amarjeet Dhanda from the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), which was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), claimed the seat. The INLD’s Parminder Singh Dhull won the seat in both 2009 and 2014.
The Haryana elections were conducted in a single phase on October 5, achieving an overall voter turnout of 67.90 %, with Juliana seeing a turnout of 74.66 %.
Phogat, a 30-year-old three-time Olympian, gained attention for her role in protests against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh. She joined Congress on September 6 but was disqualified from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics for exceeding the weight limit ahead of what would have been a historic final in the women’s 50kg wrestling event.
