New Delhi, Dec 21:
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh was on Thursday elected as President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with his panel comfortably winning 13 of the 15 posts in the much-delayed polls – an outcome that triggered outrage among protesting wrestlers and Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from the sport.
The trio of Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Malik had launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan in January this year, aggressively pushing for a change of guard in the WFI but a close associate of the BJP MP is now at the helm.
Sanjay Singh, the UP Wrestling Association vice-president hailing from Varanasi, secured 40 votes as against seven of his rival and 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran.
The panel of Sheoran though managed to win the key post of secretary-general with Prem Chand Lochab, a former Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) secretary, defeating Darshan Lal 27-19.
Devender Singh Kadian, who runs a chain of food joints on National Highways and is considered to be close to protesting wrestlers, claimed the senior vice president’s post, beating I D Nanavati 32-15.
The victory of these two candidates from the Sheoran camp suggests a compromise formula must have been worked out since Sanjay Singh won by a huge margin while votes were split in the elections for these two posts.
“It’s a triumph for thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered in the past 7-8 months,” Sanjay Singh told reporters after his huge win.
“We will respond to politics with politics and wrestling with wrestling,” Sanjay replied when asked about politics being played within the federation.
Given the tremendous interest outgoing chief Brij Bhushan has in the sport, it is expected that RSS-affiliate Sanjay Singh, who runs a construction business, will consult him in key policy decisions.
The WFI office expectedly wore a festive look with Brij Bhushan supporters shouting victory slogans.
Slogans such as ‘Sanjay bhaiya kya le ke chale, Brij Bhushan ki khadau le ke chale’ (What did Sanjay carry with him, Brij Bhushan’s wooden slippers) reverberated inside the BJP MP’s bunglow that houses the WFI office. (PTI)
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