(Win)esh Phogat: from the mat to Haryana assembly floor

NEW DELHI: If resolve had a face, Vinesh Phogat would certainly bear close resemblance to it, if not be it.

A veteran on the wrestling mat, an icon whose Olympic dream was shattered more than once by cruel twists of fate, a fierce voice that stood up to the establishment and now Congress’ newly elected legislator in the Haryana assembly.

Phogat, the cynosure of many an eye in the run-up to the Haryana elections, won her debut election from Julana with a margin of 6,015 votes.

It was a tough morning with the 30-year-old at several points trailing or neck and neck with her BJP rival Yogesh Kumar. But the pint-sized dynamo from Charkhi Dadri won the day, no small feat and a victory she will savour for a long time.

For once, it seemed, enough was enough for the young woman. Enough to beat a four-way contest, to take back a seat the Congress had not won since 2005 and to become the first woman wrestler to win an election in the state.

The former grappler is living a life so engrossing it wouldn't be a surprise if she soon becomes an inspiration for a mega-budget Bollywood biopic.

A little over a month ago, she did what many had been expecting for months, embraced politics as a Congress candidate from Julana for the Haryana assembly polls. The party was tipped to uproot the ruling BJP, which was facing 10 years of anti-incumbency.

That hasn’t happened of course with the BJP winning or ahead in 48 of the 90 seats and the Congress trailing at 37.

None of it has been easy. But Phogat hasn't known it any other way ever since she was a child. How could she, when life just wouldn't give her a break.

She endured the pain of losing her father as a nine-year-old, and found solace in wrestling, a sport that almost broke her physically and mentally before she finally gave up, conceding that she couldn't fight it anymore.

By withdrawing from the mat, she saved the fight for a different turf and this time, Phogat managed to turn the corner.

From disqualification for being 100gm over ahead of her 50kg Olympic final, she is now a winning heavyweight in the political arena.

The tears she shed mourning the heartbreak in Paris long made way for a radiant smile as she campaigned through the length and breadth of Julana, assuring people that she was going to be their steady companion.

That smile widened into a grin as results came out. She had rallied, not for the first time in her life, to beat competition.

It was a far cry from the broken and battered woman who saw her sporting dreams perish in Paris. But she would always be counted among India's finest athletes never to have medalled at an Olympics.

It wasn't for lack of effort or desire though. She was ready to abuse her body to stay within the prescribed weight limit for that Olympic final.

This despite the fact that she had survived depression, intimidation, police detention, backlash over a protest against alleged sexual harassment by former Wrestling Federation of India head Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and a smear campaign that sought to portray her as a political pawn.

She wasn't ruffled by any of it. Phogat couldn't care less when Singh tried to undermine her sporting achievements to defend himself. Instead, she became more stubborn, unafraid to repeatedly seek Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention while making her point on the safety of women wrestlers.

To assert herself, Phogat was also willing to throw her national awards and medals into the Ganges at the peak of the protest.

The street protest, which also featured fellow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, ended after the courts intervened. What remained steadfast was her demand for accountability.

What gave her strength was perhaps a cabinet full of national and international medals. She logged two world championship bronze medals, two Asian Games medals, including a gold, eight Asian championship medals, and three successive gold medals in the Commonwealth Games in her stellar career.

In all, Phogat signed off with 15 medals, five of them gold, in various world and continental showpieces.

All along this journey, she has had her mother as her pillar of support but her relationship with the extended Phogat family -- her uncle and Dronacharya awardee Mahavir and her cousins Geeta and Babita -- has taken a hit.

The three have hardly minced words in criticising her decision to join Congress. Vinesh Phogat, on her part, maintained a stoic silence on their statements, focussing on connecting with the electorate of Julana instead.

The effort and her tenacity in the face of negativity has paid off, for once.

"One day, all of your hard work will pay off," reads the opening line of her social media bio.

For Vinesh Phogat, Tuesday is certainly one of those days.