NEW DELHI: Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat has secured victory in the Julana seat in Haryana’s Jind district for the Congress party, marking the party’s first win in 15 years. With this achievement, Vinesh becomes the first woman to win the Julana Assembly seat.
Phogat secured the Julana seat with a margin of 6,015 votes, receiving a total of 65,080 votes. BJP’s Yogesh Kumar finished in second place with 59,065 votes, while INLD’s Surinder Lather came in a distant third with 10,158 votes.
A major surprise in Julana was the defeat of incumbent MLA Amarjeet Dhanda, who received only 2,477 votes. In the previous elections in 2019, he had defeated BJP’s Parminder Singh Dhull by over 25,000 votes.
The Julana Assembly constituency is located in the Jind district, which includes five assembly seats: Julana, Safidon, Jind, Uchana Kalan, and Narwana.
Phogat, fresh from competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, was announced as Congress’s candidate for Julana, bringing star power to the electoral race. In a statement to media, she urged voters to back the party that stands for women’s rights. “You all know which party I am speaking of… People have not forgotten what the BJP did to the farmers and others,” she said, referring to the agrarian protests that swept across the state in recent years.
Her opponent, Yogesh Bairagi, a former Army captain and commercial pilot, has quickly gained popularity within the BJP. Bairagi, 35, serves as the vice president of the BJP youth wing and earned recognition for his involvement in relief efforts after the Chennai floods. His combination of military and civilian service has struck a chord with the electorate.
Julana has traditionally been a stronghold for the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which held the seat from 2009 to 2019. The last time Congress secured a victory here was in 2005 and securing the seat right after almost 15 years
Vinesh Phogat married fellow wrestler Somvir Rathee in 2018; he hails from Bakhta Kheda village in Haryana’s Jind district, which falls under the Julana Assembly segment. This area is predominantly Jat.