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WFI Elections: BBS Singh Cohorts Sweep The Polls, Wrestlers Devastated

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2023-12-23 01:30:03

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

The denouement is totally different to what the wrestlers were expecting. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close aide, Sanjay Singh, was elected the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). He won  40-7. His panel secured 13 of the 17 posts contested. The top wrestlers who have been protesting against BBS Singh for nearly a year now were shattered. Sakshee Malik, India's only woman wrestler to have won an Olympic medal announced that she will quit wrestling. Champion wrestler Bajrang Punia (Olympic bronze and four World Championship medals) has announced that he will return his Padma Shri award to the government. He later walked the talk and reportedly left the award on the footpath outside PM Modi's residence after the Delhi Police did not allow him to go inside.

On the other hand, the BBS Singh camp was jubilant. His supporters carried placards that said 'Dabdaba toh hai, Dabdaba toh Rahega' (we have the power/influence and it will remain with us). It was like telling the medal-winning athletes that they can do whatever they like but they cannot dislodge BBS Singh and his team from the governing body of WFI.With his cohorts in place at all important positions in the WFI and with the government indifferent to their situation, the wrestlers now have no one to turn to. With BBS Singh having ruled over WFI for long, he had all the state federations in his hold and there is no doubt that the elections have been won fair and square.

The wrestlers can of course approach the judiciary for getting justice. But with government-instituted inquiry committees not really coming up with much to incriminate Singh, it seems that justice will not prevail. One positive thing that has emerged out of this affair is that the spotlight is now firmly on the role of WFI officials. They will not be able to harass or molest wrestlers now as the reporting mechanism has been put in place and there will be complaints which will have to be addressed by the internal complaints committee. But the flip side is that newcomers who are harassed will now, more than ever, be afraid to complain after what has happened to the complaints of and the protests by the top names in the sport. 

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