JIND: BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former National Commission for Women chairperson Rekha Sharma on Monday claimed that Commonwealth Games medal winner and Congress MLA Vinesh Phogat lied about certain things to enter politics.
Without naming anyone against whom Phogat levelled the allegations, Sharma said Phogat used this “false” narrative for her benefit, and this led her to become an MLA from Julana. Sharma made the claims when she was in Julana town of Jind district on Sunday to meet party workers in connection with urban local body elections in Haryana. Even as Sharma made the claims, a case of sexual harassment against Wrestling Federation of India former chief Brij Bhushan Saran Singh is already in court. Vinesh had, along with wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, had sat on a protest for long to demand action against Brij Bhushan.
A Delhi court had, in May last year, framed the charges of sexual harassment and using force to outrage women’s modesty against Brij Bhushan in the criminal case filed against him by the female wrestlers.
After she had been disqualified from the Paris Olympics last year, Vinesh had also accused Indian Olympics Association president P T Usha of not providing her enough support. Sharma also accused Phogat of making statements that were “detrimental to Indian society and govt”. “The govt supported her, and the case she filed against someone is in court, and that person in question will be punished,” said Sharma.
She added Phogat turned all of this into a political issue to make her entry into politics. “This is my first visit to Julana. Perhaps I should have come earlier. That was a mistake. The seat we lost, we wouldn’t have lost if I came sooner,” she said.
Two months ago, Sharma was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Haryana. She replaced the state’s rural development and panchayat minister Krishna Lal Panwar, who resigned from his Rajya Sabha seat after being elected as the MLA from Israna in Panipat. The term of a Rajya Sabha MP is six years, but Sharma’s term will be three and a half years, lasting until August 1, 2028, as the remaining term was completed by Panwar.