Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress on Friday ahead of polling for the Haryana Assembly elections on October 5.

Both wrestlers are Haryana natives.

“I thank the Congress very much because it is only in bad times that we realise who is our own,” Phogat told reporters on Friday.

She also spoke about the protests against former Wrestling Federation of India chief and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, which she participated in.

In January last year, several top Indian wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Phogat and Punia, launched a protest against Singh accusing him of intimidation and sexual harassment.

The protestors were manhandled by the police at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on May 3, 2023.

“When we were being dragged on the road, all of you were with us except the Bharatiya Janata Party,” she said. “You were able to understand our pain and tears. I am proud that I am associated with an ideology that stands against the injustice done to women and is ready to fight for their rights from the streets to the Parliament.”

The protests resumed in April after no punitive action was taken against Singh by a committee that was formed to investigate the allegations.

Singh, a former BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, stepped down from his post and an ad-hoc committee was appointed to look after the affairs of the wrestling body.

On Friday, Punia said he would “fight together against injustice and stand with Congress in every struggle”.

“We had written a letter to the women MPs of BJP against the injustice being done to women wrestlers, but no one stood with us,” said Punia. “But Congress stood with us at every turn.”

Earlier in the day, Phogat resigned from the Indian Railways for personal reasons. She was employed as an officer on special duty with the Northern Railways.

“At this point in my life, I have decided to separate myself from the railway service and have submitted my resignation to the competent authorities of the Indian Railways,” she said in a social media post. “I will always be grateful to the Indian Railway family for this opportunity given to me in the service of the nation.”

On Wednesday, Phogat and Punia had met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

BJP leader and former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar claimed that their decision to join the Congress proved that their protests were politically motivated.

“I think our athletes got trapped in a political maze during the protests,” he said. “What started back then is reaching its climax now. The wrestlers’ protests were politically motivated. These people were seeking a ticket from the Congress.”

In the recent Paris Olympics, Phogat was disqualified from the women’s 50-kilogram gold medal match after she failed to meet the competition’s weight requirements by a mere 100 grams. This meant she did not receive the silver medal either.

When Phogat returned from Paris, she was received by Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda at the Delhi airport.