Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh becomes new WFI president

Sanjay Singh became the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with his panel comfortably winning bulk of the posts in the delayed polls. Singh is considered to be outgoing chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s loyalist in the sports body. The outcome resulted in 2016 Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announcing her retirement . Sanjay, who is UP Wrestling Association Vice President and hails from Varanasi, bagged 40 votes while his rival Anita Sheoran earned seven votes. “It’s a triumph for the thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered in the past 7-8 months,” he said after winning the elections. “We will respond to politics with politics and wrestling with wrestling,” Sanjay replied when asked about politics being played within federation.

VIDEO | Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, receives a warm welcome from his supporters in Delhi after being elected as the new WFI president. pic.twitter.com/JBxxZr8gGN

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 21, 2023

Sheron’s, a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, panel though managed to win the post of secretary general as Prem Chand Lochab beat Darshan Lal 27-19. Devender Singh Kadian, who is considered to be close to protesting wrestlers, claimed the senior vice president’s post, beating I D Nanavati 32-15. The Brij Bhushan camp swept all four Vice President posts with Delhi’s Jai Prakash (37), West Bengal’s Asit Kumar Saha (42), Punjab’s Kartar Singh (44) and Manipur’s N Phoni (38) winning the elections. Uttarakhand’s Satyapal Singh Deshwal, who is also from Brij Bhushan camp, is the new treasurer. He beat Jammu and Kashmir’s Dushyant Sharma 34-12. Brij Bhushan had backed Singh and was confident of his win as the president. “11 months later, today is the election. In the election, Sanjay Singh, in a way, can be described as a representative of the old federation. Sanjay Singh is sure to win the election, ensuring the formation of a new federation for the children. I urge them to create a conducive sports environment as soon as possible and compensate for any losses,” he had told news agency PTI. The outcome of the polls came as a blow to top wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik who had protested for months against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and sought his, and his loyalists’, exit from WFI.

VIDEO | "Our entire panel (Sanjay Singh panel) has won, everyone has won with a good majority," says Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son-in-law Vishal Singh on WFI election results.

(Full video is available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvrpG7) pic.twitter.com/YdBq1KkKe3

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 21, 2023

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At the Press Club of India, less than a kilometre from the WFI office, the trio expressed their disappointment at the outcome. Sakshi, as a mark of protest, quit the sport. Punia and Phogat, meanwhile, remained unsure of their future under the new regime. The wrestlers had accused Brij Bhushan, a BJP MP, of sexually harassing women wrestlers, including juniors, and mobilised huge support from different sections of society. However, the protest came to an end on the day they planned a march towards new Parliament building on 28 May when Delhi police removed all the protesters from Jantar Mantar for rioting. The wrestlers officially called off their protest on 7 June when Sports Minister Anurag Thakur assured them that none of the family members or close associates of Brij Bhushan will be allowed to enter the WFI election fray. Consequently, neither Brij Bhushan’s son Prateek nor son-in-law Vishal Singh entered the fray. “We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide has been elected as the president of WFI, then I quit wrestling,” said a teary-eyed Sakshi, and kept her shoes on the table in a dramatic announcement. “We wanted a female president but that did not happen,” the 31-year-old, who is also a CWG gold medallist, added. ‘Vendetta will not be pursued’ Brij Bhushan assured that no vendetta politics will be played and even if the protesting wrestlers want to continue wrestling, they will be treated with all fairness. “There will be no partiality. All will get support from WFI,” Brij Bhushan told news agency PTI when asked if the federation will support the wrestlers who had launched protest against him. “We have to look after the game and not the mistakes of the wrestlers. If they will suffer due to their mistakes, then the federation will not be impartial,” he assured. RSS-affiliate Sanjay hails from Varanasi and is a very close associate of Brij Bhushan. Given the tremendous interest the outgoing chief has in the sport, it is expected that Sanjay will consult him in policy decisions. “We stopped our protests after listening to the govt but now it is the time of the Govt to fulfil their promise that no one related to Brij Bhushan Singh should get a post in the federation. Anurag Thakur said that the govt will keep their promises and we hope the same,” Sakshi Malik had said on 11 December. “Yes, we met with the sports minister today and reminded him of his promise that no one related to Brij Bhushan should contest the WFI elections,” Bajrang had said. “Sanjay Singh is his close associate and he should withdraw from the elections or otherwise we will decide our future course of action soon. We told that to the minister,” added Punia. Stage set for lifting UWW ban on WFI The election of the new executive council will also pave the way for lifting the UWW ban on WFI. The world governing body of the game had banned WFI for not conducting election on time, forcing Indian wrestlers to compete as neutral athletes at the 2023 World Championships. The election process was set in motion in July but was delayed because of court cases. The Supreme Court recently set aside the stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, paving the way for the process to elect the new WFI governing body. (with inputs from PTI)