Sanjay Singh was elected as the president of the controversial Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) today, due to which the control of the wrestling federation has indirectly returned to the hands of former president Brij Bhushan. Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association Vice President Sanjay Singh got 40 votes, while his opponent Anita Sheoran got seven votes. Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anita’s panel, however, managed to clinch the post of general secretary when Prem Chand Lochab defeated Darshan Nall.
Davinder Singh Kadian, who runs a franchise of food joints on the national highway and is close to the protesting wrestlers, took the post of senior vice president. They beat ID Nanavati 32-15. Brij Bhushan’s campaign won 13 out of 15 posts. The election results have made wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik realize that their protest against Brij Bhushan has gone in vain as despite campaigning for change, they have not got the support of the wrestling world.
A close associate of BJP MP Brij Bhushan is now president. The wrestlers accused Brij Bhushan of allegedly sexually harassing women wrestlers including junior wrestlers and he managed to garner massive support from various sections of the society. However, the wrestlers’ protest failed when they planned to march towards the new Parliament building on 28 May and the Delhi Police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar on charges of rioting. The wrestlers officially called off their protest on June 7, when Sports Minister Anurag Thakur assured them that no family member or close associate of Brij Bhushan would be allowed to contest the WFI elections.
RSS-affiliated Sanjay Singh hails from Varanasi and is a very close associate of Brij Bhushan. Seeing the former president’s keen interest in the sport, it is expected that Sanjay Singh will consult him in policy decisions.
The election of the new executive committee will clear the way for the lifting of the ban of the world governing body United World Wrestling (WWW) on the WFI. The WWE banned the WFI for not holding elections on time, forcing Indian wrestlers to compete as neutrals in the 2023 World Championship. The selection process was started in July but was delayed due to various court cases. The Supreme Court recently set aside the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, clearing the way for the election process for the new governing body of the WFI.
