Olympian wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat, who were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and ex-BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, on Friday started their political innings by joining the Congress.
Congress has declared Vinesh Phogat as its candidate for the upcoming assembly elections from Julana seat of Haryana.
Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia resigned from their posts in Northern Railway on Friday, hours before joining the Congress, but their resignations are yet to be accepted by the Railways.
NDTV quoted railway sources as saying that the resignation of Vinesh and Bajrang has not been accepted and until it is accepted, both of them cannot join any party or contest elections.
Before formally joining the Congress, Vinesh Phogat resigned from the post of Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Sports in Northern Railways, citing personal reasons.
“Serving the Indian Railways has been a memorable and proud time in my life,” Vinesh wrote in his resignation letter shared on Instagram.
She was working as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Northern Railway. She further wrote, “I have decided to disassociate myself from the service of Railways and have sent my resignation to the concerned authorities of Indian Railways.”
Vinesh wrote, “I will always be grateful to the Indian Railways family for giving me the opportunity to serve the country.”
In her resignation letter to the General Manager of Northern Railway, Vinesh wrote, “I request that I, Vinesh, wife of Somveer Rathi, am presently working as OSD in Northern Railway Sports.
Due to personal reasons and family circumstances, I will not be able to discharge my duties in this post, hence I am resigning without any pressure. Vinesh also requested to accept the resignation with immediate effect.
According to the report, Bajrang Punia also resigned from the same post at almost the same time. Sources said, “Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia have joined the Congress party without getting their resignations approved by the Railways. As per the service rules, they cannot contest elections and join any party until their resignations are approved by the Railways.”
Railways issued show cause notice to Phogat on September 4: Official
Northern Railway officials have confirmed that wrestler Vinesh Phogat was served a show-cause notice on September 4, 2024, asking her to clarify her position regarding joining a political party.
An official said, “Phogat had met Rahul. After this, there were reports in the media that Phogat would join the Congress party, then a notice was issued to her on September 4.”
He said, “He was asked to clarify his stand as joining a political party as a government employee is a violation of service rules.”
In fact, earlier on Friday, Congress leader KC Venugopal had alleged that Phogat was given a show cause notice after resigning from the railways, but Northern Railway Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Himanshu Upadhyay has denied this.
Upadhyay said that no notice was given to Phogat after she resigned. Venugopal claimed that the Railways had issued a show cause notice to Phogat after she met Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Party sources said that the notice mentioned violation of service rules by meeting political leaders.
Venugopal asked whether it is a crime to meet the leader of the opposition? He also requested the railway authorities to relieve Phogat from duty and ‘not do politics’. Without giving details, Venugopal claimed that Poonia has also received the notice.
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