Vinesh Phogat is winning over Haryana’s women – but is still wrestling with a tough election

The most striking aspect of Vinesh Phogat’s election campaign in Julana is the large throng of boisterous female supporters making up her entourage.

The sight would surprise anyone familiar with Haryana. Women are barely visible in public spaces in the state – especially not in large groups, unapologetically taking up space. On Thursday, as Phogat made her way through Julana’s bustling bazaar, visiting each shop and seeking the blessings of shopkeepers, her female retinue wove around behind her, its presence a powerful show of solidarity.

Julana, a small town in the Jind district of Haryana, is not used to any of this. It has never had a woman MLA or, for that matter, even a woman runner-up in an assembly election.

That might change with Phogat’s nomination as a candidate by the Indian National Congress for the assembly polls on October 5. One of India’s leading wrestlers, she was a key part of the wrestlers’ protest last year against Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was then the president of Wrestling Federation of India. Singh had been accused of sexual harassment by several female wrestlers.

After Phogat’s valiant performance at the Paris Summer Olympics in August, where she made the finals but was disqualified for being 100 grams over the weight...

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