Brij Bhushan claims his loyalist Sanjay Singh & panel's victory a done deal

NEW DELHI: A day ahead of the much-awaited Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) elections in the national capital, the association's outgoing president - Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh - has again mocked the Anita Sheoran-led rival camp by claiming that his loyalist and presidential post hopeful, Sanjay Singh from the Uttar Pradesh member unit, will score a resounding victory in the December 21 electoral process as he hails from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi.

Brij Bhushan, who shouldn't be influencing the outcome of the elections by making media statements in public as the BJP-strongman is under investigation following complaints of sexual harassment filed against him by six women wrestlers, has asserted that the majority of the member state units - which form part of the WFI's voters list - have pledged their support to Singh and his panel.

As Brij Bhushan isn't eligible to contest after serving three terms as president as per the guidelines of the national sports code, his henchman Singh is pitted against former CWG gold medallist wrestler Sheoran for the president's post. While Singh is the UP wrestling body's vice-president, Sheoran is one of the key witnesses who deposed against Brij Bhushan in the sexual harassment case.

"I can say this with full confidence that the majority of the state associations have extended their support to Sanjay Singh who comes from our PM Modi ji's constituency. Singh has been running for the president's post and his victory is guaranteed. He will emerge victorious," Brij Bhushan said.

He stated that the wrestling as a sport has suffered in the absence of a proper federation and that there hasn't been a single national competition during the period when all the WFI's activities were suspended by the sports ministry in January this year and an Indian Olympic Association (IOA)-run ad-hoc body took over the reins.

"The sport of wrestling has definitely suffered. Not having a full-time federation in place and the delay in conducting the elections have harmed the prospects of several upcoming wrestlers. There has been a steady decline in the number of those newcomers who want to join the sport but have chosen to stay away from it because of this period of uncertainty," he said. "I hope the federation elections happen in a fair and transparent way on Thursday and a new body would be able to run its affairs smoothly," he added.

Last week, a group of protesting wrestlers, including Bajrang Punia and Sakshee Malikkh, had held a closed-door meeting with sports minister Anurag Thakur at his residence here. They demanded the government's intervention to ensure that candidates from Brij Bhushan's camp don't get elected to top posts in the elections.

The wrestlers' worry stemmed from the fact that 20 out of 25 state member units of the WFI have pledged their support to Singh in the upcoming elections. Only five state units - Gujarat, Assam, Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir - are supporting Sheoran and her panel.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had stayed the WFI elections on August 11 - a day prior to the scheduled polling - acting on a petition filed by the Haryana faction over voting rights. On November 28, the apex court cleared the way for holding of the elections, arguing that the proper course would have been to allow the election to be conducted and make the process subject to the outcome of the pending writ petition.


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