BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers, Thursday asserted that his dominance over the federation will prevail after his close associate won the president’s election.
Sanjay Singh, a long-time aide of Brij Bhushan, won 40 out of 47 votes to become the new WFI president.
Reacting to his aide’s victory, the BJP MP said, “A message has been given. Every akhaada (wrestling academy) in the country is bursting firecrackers. Dabdabaa tha, dabdabaa rahega!”
The BJP MP thanked the Narendra Modi government for making sure the election to the WFI chief’s post are held as per the Supreme Court’s directions.
“The elections were done on the instructions of the Supreme Court… the Centre went ahead to make sure elections happened and a non-partisan person was chosen as president,” Brij Bhushan said.
His remarks came after Olympic medalist wrestler Sakshee Malikkh announced to quit the sport in protest against Sanjay Singh’s election as WFI chief.
“Yeh ladai dil se ladi (We fought this battle with our heart). In the end, we slept for 40 days on the roads but I’d like to thank the several people of our country who came to support us during the protests earlier this year. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling…” Malik told the media on before walking out in tears.
The process for the WFI election began in July, but court cases kept delaying it. This led to the international wrestling body suspending the WFI. The Supreme Court recently set aside a stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, clearing the decks for the polls.