Time for government to fulfil their promise, says ace wrestler Sakshi Malik after new date for WFI Elections announced

Ace wrestler Sakshi Malik reiterated the demand for Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh or anyone associated with him to not get elected as the country’s wrestling chief two days after the date for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) polls was announced.

The WFI elections was originally set to take place in August only to be put on hold by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Supreme Court of India, however, set aside the stay order on the elections on 28 November, allowing them to go ahead.  The elections are now scheduled to take place on 21 December with the results being declared on the same day.

Rio Olympics bronze medallist Malik, who was among the key figures in the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan earlier this year, hoped Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur would stick to his promise and not allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj, or anyone associated with him for that matter, to hold a post with the federation after the election.

“As the dates of the elections for the WFI have been announced, we met him regarding that. 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,” Malik told PTI on Monday.

Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and World Championships silver medallist Vinesh Phogat were some of the other leading wrestlers besides Malik who participated in the protest against Brij Bhushan that briefly took place in January before intensifying between the months of April and June this year.

The agitation had finally been called off by the wrestlers in June after a chargesheet had been filed against Brij Bhushan as well as following a round of talks with Union Minister Thakur.

Brij Bhushan, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj, was accused of sexually harassing several female wrestlers besides mental harassment and financial mismanagement. The protest not only led to his ouster as WFI chief with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) putting in place an ad-hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the federation.

The failure to conduct its elections on time led to the WFI getting suspended by United World Wrestling in August, which the protesting wrestlers termed as a “black day for Indian wrestling“. As a result of the suspension, the Indian grapplers had to compete under a neutral flag in the World Championships that took place in Belgrade in September.