Transition from the wrestling mat to electoral battle didn't prove fruitful for Babita Phogat as she lost on her political debut in the Haryana Assembly elections. Contesting on a Bharatiya Janata Party ticket, Phogat was comprehensively defeated by independent candidate Sombir. She finished third behind Sombir and Jannayak Janta Party's Satpal Sangwan from the Dadri constituency in the Haryana elections.

The BJP candidate tallied tallied 24,502 votes to Sombir's 43,589. JJP's Sangwan garnered 29,319 votes.

Phogat is a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist. She also secured a bronze medal at the 2012 World Wrestling Championships.

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Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal was loosely based the Phogat family. Her sister, Geeta, is a pioneering wrestler while their father, Mahavir Singh Phogat, is a Dronacharya Award-winning coach who trained his daughters in the sport.

Phogat has long been voicing support for the BJP's policies in the country before she formally joined the party in August 2019.

Meanwhile, results from the Haryana Assembly elections indicate a close fight between the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress as counting began on Thursday morning. At 3 pm, the BJP was leading in 39 seats in the state, closely trailed by the Congress at 30. The JJP was ahead in 11 constituencies.

If the trend holds, the JJP will hold the cards in the next government formation in the state as the Dushyant Chautala-led political upstart leads in 11 constituencies in the 90-member Haryana Assembly.

>> Haryana headed for a hung Assembly with JJP playing kingmaker - follow live

First Published:Oct 24, 2019 12:16 PM IST