CHENNAI: With the much-awaited election of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) around the corner, lobbying to garner votes is bound to happen. However, a call made on Wednesday to the outgoing secretary general, VN Prasood, has not only surprised the recipient but also those associated with him.
Standing firmly behind the sidelined WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Prasood, who will represent the Kerala Association in the special general meeting during which the election will be held, missed a call but was surprised to know the caller when he called back. "It was Bajrang (Punia). I didn't have his number so I asked who is it and he replied it's Bajrang sir," Prasood, who has served two terms as the secretary general, told this daily. Prasood will be accompanied by B Rajasekharan Nair, secretary of the Kerala unit, for the election scheduled on August 12 in New Delhi.
"He asked me when I will be reaching Delhi for polling. He also told me that everyone is backing Brij Bhushan in the polls. I told him 'Bajrang you are a wrestler, you focus on the Asian Games selection trials and we will take care of the election'," added Prasood. Bajrang, however, didn't attend this reporter's phone call nor replied to text messages sent to him enquiring about the call. Later, he along with Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat tweeted informing about a press conference they are holding at Raj Ghat, New Delhi at 12:30pm on Thursday.
The Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang along with two-time World Championships medallist Vinesh had launched a protest against Brij Bhushan and the WFI accusing the former of sexual harassment in January this year. The protesting wrestlers including the 2016 Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi had also staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar and lodged FIRs against the Uttar Pradesh strongman. Given the massive protest, the government then assured the wrestlers that neither relatives of Brij Bhushan nor his associates will contest the election. The promise meant names of Brij Bhushan and his son Karan were later removed from the electoral college.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan, is the nominee for the top post while former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran is the presidential candidate from another faction. With 25 state units eligible to vote and each of them having two votes, a total of 50 votes are expected to be cast during the election.
Despite not being eligible to contest as he had already served three terms as the president, Brij Bhushan still holds a considerable command over the affiliated units. With almost 20 units backing him to date, candidates from his faction are expected to sweep the poll for all posts of the executive committee. The executive committee comprises 15 members including a president, a secretary, a senior vice president, a treasurer, four vice presidents, two joint secretaries and five executive members. Sources claimed a few state units like Punjab Association were also approached but the same could not be verified individually by this daily.
