CHENNAI: A couple of days after the revised schedule of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) election was announced, Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik on Monday met the sports minister Anurag Thakur reminding him of the promises he made, raising their apprehension over the candidature of Sanjay Singh for the post of president.
Sanjay is considered to be a staunch supporter of sidelined WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the top wrestlers do not want him to lead the federation fearing it would once again bring Brij Bhushan back to power. The much-awaited elections to the executive committee of the WFI will be held on December 21.
Sources informed that Bajrang and Sakshi, who along with Vinesh Phogat spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan accusing him of sexual harassment, requested Thakur to ensure Sanjay withdraws his nomination.
The wrestlers, in fact, claimed that they withdrew the protest after the government promised them that no close associates of Brij Bhushan will contest the elections.
“Sanjay Singh is a close associate of Brij Bhushan and he should withdraw his nomination otherwise we will decide our future course of action. We told that to the minister,” Bajrang told a news agency.
“The duo stayed at the minister’s residence for around three hours. They reached there at around 3:30 pm and came out late in the evening. The meeting, however, lasted for less than half an hour,” sources in the know of things told this daily.
Sanjay, along with former CWG gold medallist Anita Sheoran, is in the fray for the president’s post. Darshan Lal is the candidate from Brij Bhushan’s camp while Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) secretary Prem Chand Lochab is from another faction for the post of secretary.
While Brij Bhushan, who had already served three terms as the president, is ineligible to contest, the Uttar Pradesh strongman, also a BJP member of parliament, still holds considerable command over the affiliated units.
As many as 25 state units are eligible to vote and each of them has two votes taking the total votes to 50.
Before the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the election on August 11, a day before the polling, Brij Bhushan’s camp was enjoying the support of over 15 state units thus ensuring the faction a comfortable victory.
The situation has not changed a lot since then. “It’s out in the open for everyone to see. The sole objective of these wrestlers is to stall the elections as they know they cannot win it by fair means. How can they decide the candidature from other factions?,” said an official, who was associated with the WFI in the past. Bajrang and Sakshi remained unavailable for their comments despite repeated attempts.
