WFI elections: None of Brij Bhushan's family members to contest WFI elections, says report

None of the family members of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will contest the upcoming federation elections scheduled for July 6, sources told PTI on Tuesday.

The news comes after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, in a meeting with protesting wrestlers earlier this month, promised that neither the outgoing Singh’s family members nor his associates will be allowed to contest the impending elections, following which the protest was halted till June 15.

The elections will be conducted for various positions in the prestigious sporting body – president, senior vice-president, four vice-presidents, secretary-general, treasurer, two joint secretaries, and five executive members.

Currently, Singh’s son Karan Bhushan heads the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association while his son-in-law Aditya Pratap Singh is head of the Bihar unit.

“They had a discussion and have decided that neither his son Karan nor his son-in-law Aditya will file nominations for WFI elections,” a source close to the Singh family said.

“In the current circumstances, it is not advisable to do something that further fuels the controversy,” said the source.

The announcement for the 6 July election comes a day after the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed retired high court judge Mahesh Mittal Kumar as the returning officer to set the poll process in motion.

The results of the elections will be announced on the same day and the last date for receiving two nominations from each state and union territory for constituting the electoral college has been fixed as June 19 and the scrutiny will be completed by June 22.

India’s top wrestlers including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and World Championships medallist Vinesh Phogat have been agitating against the WFI head since 23 April over accusations of sexual harassment.

While the protest is on hold currently, the wrestlers have said to resume the demonstration if their demands are not met. One of their ket demands is to arrest Brij Bhushan.

The Delhi Police are expected to file a chargesheet against the BJP MP by 15 June.

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