New Delhi A key aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was crowned the new president of the body on Thursday after winning the election in a landslide victory, highlighting that sexual harassment charges levelled by some of India’s top athletes against him had barely loosened Brij Bhushan’s grip over the sport.
Sanjay Kumar Singh, the vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association, was elected the WFI boss 40-7, defeating 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran, who was backed by Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik, and double World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat who led a months-long protest against the former federation head.
“A message has been given. Every akhaada in the country is bursting firecrackers. Dabdabaa tha, dabdabaa rahega (dominance was there, it is there to stay)” said Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP from Kaiserganj, as hundreds of supporters burst crackers, distributed sweets and offered him garlands.
Hours later, the wrestlers held an emotional press conference where they expressed disappointment at the outcome. “We fought from our heart, but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide is elected the president of WFI, I give up wrestling. From today onwards you will not see me on the mat,” said a teary-eyed Malik as she kept her shoes on the table and announced her retirement.
The anticlimactic elections mark the end of a tumultuous year of Indian wrestling that began on November 18 last year, when the champion athletes first levelled allegations of abuse and sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan. Earlier this year, they camped at a protest site in Jantar Mantar for 38 days demanding his arrest until Delhi Police stopped a planned march to the new Parliament, manhandled them, and detained them. The the athletes also met Union home minister Amit Shah and youth and sports affair minister Anurag Thakur.
Brij Bhushan has been charged under sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 354D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). None of the sections warranted the immediate arrest of Brij Bhushan, a key demand by the protesting wrestlers. The case is being heard by a local court in Delhi.
“We were assured that WFI will get a woman president. I am sad that it has not happened. I worry for the future of women wrestlers,” Sheoran said.
Thursday’s elections, conducted in the presence of a United World Wrestling (UWW) observer, also pave the way for WFI to get back its recognition from the world body that was rescinded for not holding polls on time.
On Thursday, polling began at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) headquarters after the WFI special general meeting and the results were declared by Vishal Singh, Brij Bhushan’s son-in-law and chief of the Bihar wrestling body. Out of the 50 voters in the electoral college, 47 turned up.
Brij Bhushan’s camp swept all four vice-president posts, won the treasurer’s position, and all five executive committee memberships. In all, they won 13 of the 15 positions on offer, with Sheoran’s panel only winning the secretary-general and senior vice-president posts.
Brij Bhushan’s supporters broke into wild celebrations.
“The wrestlers who want to compete, should wrestle. Those who want to do politics, should do politics. Those who want to indulge in politics will be answered in the political arena,” Sanjay Singh said.
“It’s a triumph for thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered for the past seven or eight months. My first priority will be to conduct under-15 and under-20 nationals that have been stuck since March,” he added, before his cavalcade of SUVs left for Brij Bhushan’s house.
In its 1,500-page charge sheet, the Delhi Police details a raft of allegations levelled by six top wrestlers against the six-time parliamentarian, and cite photographs to establish the politician’s presence at some of the spots where the alleged molestation took place, in addition to corroborative statements by other witnesses.
In the case of one top wrestler, for example, police listed seven separate allegations against Brij Bhushan, including at four separate international competitions between 2016 and 2019, and another at the federation office. The charge sheet noted that at least four witnesses “have either corroborated the incident or the events which were in their knowledge or were brought to their knowledge by the complainant.” In the case of another complainant, Delhi Police not only noted five separate allegations against Brij Bhushan but also listed that the strongman kept calling the victim on her mother’s phone number for two or three months.
In a third case, the charge sheet noted that a complaint alleged that her name was struck off the list of candidates from a national competition after she rejected the “predatory sexual advances of the accused”.
In the past year, Punia went to the Asian Games and returned without a medal while an injured Phogat couldn’t make the cut. Malik remains the only women wrestler from the country to win an Olympic medal.
“This is the victory of the wrestlers of the country. All wrestling activities were stopped for 11 months. I hope that after the formation of the new EC, wrestling events will resume. Within 10 days, the landscape of wrestling will change again and we will perform in the Olympics the way people want us to,” Brij Bhushan said amid raucous celebrations.
He also said that the protesting wrestlers will not face any vendetta politics and will get the required support from the federation.
“All wresters will get support from WFI. There will be no partiality. A lot of wrestlers, new and established ones, had sat on dharna on the first day of the protest (January 2023). No one will be singled out on that basis,” he told news agency PTI.
Originally from Varanasi, Sanjay Singh is 51 years old and entered WFI in 2012 to became the federation’s joint secretary in 2019.