Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia join Congress

NEW DELHI 6 Sep (PTI), Ending days of speculation, wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress today ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls.

Phogat and Punia met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his 10, Rajaji Marg, residence. They later joined the Congress at the AICC headquarters in the presence of Congress general secretary in-charge organisation KC Venugopal, AICC general secretary in-charge Haryana Deepak Babaria, Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan and the Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera.

At the press conference during which they joined the party, Venugopal claimed that Phogat had been issued a showcase notice by the Railways after she met Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. Party sources said the notice talked about violating service rules by meeting political leaders.