Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress Wednesday afternoon and will contest next month’s Haryana Assembly election. Ms Phogat is expected to challenge for the Julana seat held by the Jannayak Janta Party’s Amarjeet Dhanda. Mr Punia’s likely seat is unclear. The two met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi today, after which news of their political and electoral debut was confirmed.

Ms Phogat and Mr Punia made headlines last year after leading protests against former wrestling body chief Brij Bhushan Singh, who faces charges of sexual assault and intimidation. He was also a BJP MP at the time but was denied a ticket to defend Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat.

The BJP, instead, fielded his son, Karan Bhushan Singh, who won the seat.

The Congress will hope that bringing Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia onboard will strengthen its appeal among voters in the Hindi heartland state, which the BJP has ruled since 2014. Ms Phogat’s connect with Haryana farmers – lakhs of whom continue to protest against the BJP on issues like legal guarantees for MSP – will also have been a factor in the Congress’ consideration.

Last week Ms Phogat visited farmers camped out at a protest site in Shambhu on the Haryana-Delhi border, describing herself as “your daughter” and saying she prays to God to deliver justice for them.

“Your agitation completes 200 days today. I pray to God that you get what you came for – justice. Your daughter stands with you. I also urge the government… we too are citizens of India and just because we raise our voices it is not political,” she said, “You (the government) should hear them.”

Then, though, when asked about her political debut, Ms Phogat was circumspect.

“I will not speak on this… I will not talk about politics. I have come to see my family. If you (the press) insist on talking about this you will take focus away from their (the farmers’) struggle. The focus is not on me today. The focus should be on the farmers, I request this…” she said.

Kangana Ranaut’s upcoming movie Emergency is caught in a controversy after Sikh organisations objected to its release and accused the film’s makers of misrepresenting the Sikh community and twisting historical facts. The actor and BJP MP has said the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has put its clearance to the movie on hold after its members received death threats.

What Is ‘Emergency’ About?

The film, starring Ms Ranaut in the lead role, is based on the Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government in 1975. Also starring Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade and Milind Soman, it is a dramatic representation of the 21-month period that is considered a dark phase for Indian democracy. It also touches upon Mrs Gandhi’s assassination and the Khalistan movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale in the 1980s. The script has been written by Ms Ranaut and the film is co-produced by Zee Studios and the actor’s Manikarnika Films.

The film was earlier scheduled for a release last year, but it was postponed to June this year. Owing to the Lok Sabha election, it was postponed again and the release date was September 6. With the film now awaiting the Censor nod, it is not clear when the movie will hit the screens.

What Are The Objections?

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, an apex body managing Sikh religious institutions, has sent a legal notice to the film’s producers. They have said that the movie misrepresents Sikhs and historical facts. A week after the film’s trailer released last month, Akal Takht and SGPC demanded an immediate ban on the movie.

According to a PTI report, SGPC secretary has said they have written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the CBFC, seeking a ban on the film. The trailer had “anti-Sikh” scenes and this has “deeply hurt the sentiments of the Sikh community”, he said.

Gurcharan Singh Grewal, general secretary of SGPC, told news agency ANI that it is good that the Censor Board has halted the film’s release. “The matter pertains to not just Sikhs, but also concerns of harmony in the country.”

Kangana Ranaut’s Response

The actor-filmmaker said there is “pressure on us not to depict the assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Bhindrawale, and the Punjab riots in the film”. “This raises the question – what can we actually show in the film? That the film blacks out all of a sudden?” she has said.

Amid the row over Netflix webseries IC 814, the BJP MP said that the law of the land is that “one can show unimaginable amount of violence and nudity on OTT platforms without any consequence or censorship”. “One can even distort real life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives, there is all the freedom for communists or leftists across the world for such anti national expressions but as a nationalist no OTT platform allows us to make films that revolves around the integrity and unity of Bharat, it seems censorship is only for some of us who don’t want tukde of this nation and make films on historic facts. It’s hugely demotivating and unjust,” she said in a post on X.

Makers Move Court

The Zee Entertainment Enterprises, co-producer of the film, has approached the Bombay High Court, seeking a direction to CBFC to issue the clearance certificate to ‘Emergency’. The court is hearing the matter. The petition has accused the Censor Board of “illegally and arbitrarily” withholding the film’s certification. The Censor Board told the court that the certificate had been issued, but is now on hold.

Zee said CBFC is is taking a “very convenient half-measure”. “The maker of the film is a sitting MP. They gave her a censor certificate and could have simply said, look we have given the censor certificate and now if there is unrest, the State can take care of the same. They cannot say that now that there is an unrest, we will rethink the certification,” Zee told the court. “CBFC is a censor body and not an authority to look after the law and order situation in the State.”