Shortly after his close aide swept the elections to the Wrestling Federation of India, the body’s former chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by some of India’s top wrestlers, declared “dabdaba tha, dabdaba rahega (I prevailed, I will prevail)”, indicating that his dominance would continue.
Brij Bhushan’s aide Sanjay Singh got 40 out of the 47 votes in Thursday’s election, defeating Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Anita Sheoran. Ms Sheoran was backed by wrestlers, including Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat, who had protested against Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP.
Reacting to the election result, Brij Bhushan said it was a victory of the country’s wrestlers and that he hoped wrestling activities which were “stopped for 11 months” – since the protests against him began – would now resume.
The BJP MP also called Sanjay Singh, who has said he is “definitely close” to the former wrestling federation chief, a non-partisan person.
“A message has been given. Every akhaada (wrestling academy) in the country is bursting firecrackers. Dabdabaa tha, dabdabaa rahega! I want to give the credit of victory to the wrestlers of the country and the electors. I want to thank the government as well. 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.
“This ‘grahan’ (eclipse) of 11 months on wrestling is over. Within 10 days, the landscape of wrestling will change again and we will perform in the Olympics the way people want us to,” he added.
Mallikh Quits
Reacting to Sanjay Singh’s election, which is being seen as a continuity of leadership in the Wrestling Federation of India, Olympic medallist Sakshee Mallikh put her boots on a table during a press briefing and said that she is quitting the sport.
Ms Malikkh said the wrestlers had wanted a woman at the helm of the wrestling federation. “But that did not happen… We fought, but if the new president is Brij Bhushan’s aide, his business partner, then I quit wrestling.” She also broke down as she was leaving the venue of the press conference.
Asked about Ms Mallikh quitting, Brij Bhushan told ANI, “I have nothing to do with this.”
Vinesh Phogat, who also broke into tears at the press conference, said women wrestlers will continue to face harassment and she has no clue “how to find justice in the country”.
“The future of our wrestling career is in the dark. We do not know where to go,” she added.
‘Victory of Truth’
Sanjay Singh called his election as president of the wrestling federation a victory of truth over lies and, in a reference to Brij Bhushan, he said an attempt was made to tarnish the reputation of a person whose character was spotless.
As his supporters congratulated him, slogans were also raised in Hindi, saying, “Sanjay Bhayya kya lekar chale, Brij Bhushan Singh ke khadau lekar chale (Where is Sanjay Singh going? He is carrying Brij Bhushan’s wooden footwear)”.
Besides the president, a senior vice-president, four vice-presidents, a secretary-general, a treasurer, two joint secretaries and five executive members of the wrestling body were also elected. Most of the people who secured these posts are also seen as belonging to the Brij Bhushan camp.
