Balali village in Haryana’s Charkhi Dadri district is well known because of the Phogat sisters. The Phogat sisters have been called ‘Golden Sisters’ due to the success they have achieved at the international level in the last decade. One of them, Vinesh Phogat, created history by reaching the Final in the 50 kg category in the Paris Olympics recently. However, just before the final match, she was found overweight and had to lose the silver medal as well. The whole country stood with Vinesh in that moment of disappointment.
Many wrestlers of Haryana campaigned in her support. But even at such a time, Vinesh’s elder sisters did not stand with her. Rather, they were targeting their cousin through social media posts. These incidents again fueled the discussions of professional rivalry between the Phogat sisters.
It is also believed that the reason for the rift in the family could be the big successes achieved by Vinesh or the assembly elections to be held in Haryana.
Mahavir Phogat’s second eldest daughter Babita contested the 2019 elections on a BJP ticket. On the other hand, after taking on Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over the sexual assault charges against women grapplers during the wrestlers’ protest at Delhi, it is commonly believed that Vinesh has the support of Congress.
According to a report in an English daily, the recent social media post of Geeta Phogat, the eldest of the four daughters of Dronacharya Award winner Mahavir Phogat, has again fueled this rivalry. 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medalist Geeta wrote on Twitter, “Chal ka phal chhal, aaj nahi to kal.”
Although this cryptic post surprised people, some considered it an attack on Vinesh. But Geeta did not stop there. Geeta soon reposted the post of her husband Pawan Saroha. This time she took a direct dig at her cousin for not mentioning her uncle Mahavir in a post acknowledging the contribution of her mother, husband for their support.
“Vinesh, you wrote very well, but perhaps you forgot your uncle Mahavir today. Hope good thoughts prevail (Vinesh),” he wrote.
During Vinesh’s grand welcome at Delhi’s IGI airport, live-streamed on several TV channels and her welcome event by khap panchayats, Geeta’s younger sister and wrestler-turned-politician Babita commented in a social media post, “Aiming for success by humiliating others is actually failure.”
When Geeta and Babita decided to stay away from Vinesh’s welcome event, it became clear what Geeta wanted to say in her post. “Dangal,” a film made by Aamir Khan on Geeta and Babita’s life, was a huge hit.
However, her third sister Sangeeta Phogat’s husband, Bajrang Punia was at the forefront of the event. Bajrang Punia won the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Bajrang stood by Vinesh since she was disqualified. When Vinesh did a roadshow from IGI Airport to Balali after returning to India, Bajrang was with her in the car. After Vinesh was declared disqualified, Bajrang’s wife Sangeeta also posted an emotional message. When Dronacharya Award winner Mahavir Phogat attended Vinesh’s event and hugged his niece, Vinesh showed touched his feet to show respect to her uncle.
The rivalry between the Phogat sisters started when Vinesh took on then President of the Wrestling Federation of India and former Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in 2023 over allegations of sexual assault of women wrestlers. The women wrestlers’ sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar, the opposition’s support and the police action against the women wrestlers had embarrassed the ruling BJP. Even at that time, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta stood firmly with the protesting wrestlers. However, Babita decided to maintain distance saying that the movement was politically motivated.
Babita, who had earlier contested the Haryana assembly elections from Dadri on a BJP ticket in 2019, had said that the protest was organized at the behest of Haryana Congress leaders. Mahavir Phogat also did not say anything in support of the wrestlers. Geeta and her husband then supported the movement. The protesting wrestlers, including Vinesh, Punia and Sakshi Malik, were accused of agitating for political gain at the behest of the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections. Following the protest, the Phogat sisters found themselves politically divided though they had started their wrestling journey together being trained by the same coach and from the same village.
Vinesh’s growing closeness with the Congress is well known. Rohtak MP Deepender Hooda was present at the IGI airport on Vinesh’s return. Mahavir Phogat and his daughters were not in good terms with former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda. Mahavir believed that Hooda did not give Geeta due recognition after she won a medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Mahavir reacted sharply to Bhupinder Hooda’s suggestion to give Vinesh a Rajya Sabha seat, calling it a ‘political stunt’.
Amid the heightened political mood ahead of the Haryana assembly polls, there are reports suggesting a possible electoral contest between the Phogat sisters, Babita and Vinesh from the Dadri assembly seat. Babita, who has contested the elections last time, is again in the race for the party ticket. Vinesh has not commented anything about contesting the elections yet. If the Phogat sisters are pitted against each other in Haryana, it is likely to fuel the rivalry between them, whatever be the electoral outcome.
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