P.V. Narasimha Rao

The polyglot was a wrestler as well, entering competitions as a student of Law College, Nagpur.Yet he could not protect the Babri Masjid, nor himself from being openly humiliated by colleagues after the mosque’s demolition

 

Mulayam Singh Yadav

As a young man, he was wrestling champion of Etawah district, with a knack for the Charkha Daon move in which an

opponent is tossed in the air like a wheel. He attends the winter wrestling meet in his home village, Saifai, as chief guest every year. Mulayam is on record saying grapplers makegood politicians

Y.B. Chavan

A former wrestler is perhaps an obvious choice for defence minister. Or so Jawaharlal Nehru must have thought as he appointed Y.B. Chavan to the post

 

Raj Narain

As a college student in Varanasi, he participated in wrestling tournaments called Dangals, rather unusually for an uppercaste youth. In the political ring, he was a giant-killer, defeating Indira Gandhi

Sharad Pawar

Reports vary on whether India’s cricket boss was a wrestler but the Maharashtra strongman and would-be PM is a known wrestling enthusiast. In December 2007, his party NCP reportedly held a wrestling tournament in Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pawar’s constituency to celebrate his birthday

Manohar Aich

Bengal’s “Pocket Hercules” wasn’t exactly a wrestler but comes close in the power stakes as a bodybuilder. He won the Mr Universe title but couldn’t win Dum Dum in 1991on a BJP ticket

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger

As body builder politicians go, the most famous is Terminator himself. The Austrian-born Hollywood action hero — the youngest Mr Universe ever and seven-time Mr Olympia — went on to become California’s Republicangovernor

Dara Singh

The face of Indian wrestling became a BJP Rajya Sabha member but hardly attended the House or spoke

 

Jesse Ventura

The American professional wrestler, known as The Body, went on to become The Governing Body as governor of Minnesota (1999-2003)