Wrestling
Vinesh Phogat to battle a wrester at the Haryana polls
The battle for the Julana Assembly seat has turned into a literal dangal with AAP now fielding a wrestler.
A battle for the Julana seat just took a rather quirky turn on Wednesday. (File photo)
Wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat filed her nomination papers as a Congress candidate from Julana in Jind district for the Haryana Assembly polls on Wednesday.
And as if in response, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has fielded a wrestler of their own, albeit of a different kind, to take on Vinesh Phogat from that very constituency.
AAP released their fourth list of candidates on Wednesday and of the 21 list of names, one name stood out, that of Kavita Dalal, a former entertainment wrestler.
Who is Kavita Dalal?
Aged 37, Dalal is a former weightlifter who later transitioned to the world of entertainment wrestling.
As a weightlifter, she had represented India at the 2016 South Asian Games, winning gold in the 75kg freestyle category.
Originally from the Jind district, Kavita had made up her mind to quit weightlifting after the birth of her first child in 2010.
It was only after her husband insisted that she continued training and the gold medal at the South Asian Games was an outcome of that effort.
Thereafter, Dalal began training with the promotion company of The Great Khali with an aspiration to enter the world of entertainment wrestling.
She made her ring debut in June 2016 using the name Hard KD. In October 2017, she signed a contract with WWE to begin training at their performance center.
In April 2018, she made her WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania 34 only to be eliminated by Sarah Logan. When more losses ensued through 2018, her future in the industry began to look wobbly.
And in May 2021, Dalal was released by the WWE.
AAP fielded a wrestler candidate against Vinesh Phogat from Julana seat
— Jitender Singh (@jitenderkhalsa) September 11, 2024
Wrestler Kavita Dalal has been made the candidate
Kavita Dalal is a WWE wrestler pic.twitter.com/7wq8qVDqcm
Up against a wrestler and a pilot
In addition to Kavita Dalal, Vinesh will have to negotiate any hurdles that might come her way from Capt. Yogesh Bairagi, a former commercial pilot and a BJP candidate.
Incidentally, Bairagi is co-convenor of the BJP Sports cell and is currently the vice president of Haryana BJP's youth wing, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM).
