Pressure being put by organisations in favour of Brij Bhushan ahead of WFI election

Several organisations have written to Anurag Thakur urging the Union Sports Minister to disapprove of the wrestlers' demands to not let any family member of the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh contest for the WFI president post.

Ahead of the WFI elections on July 6, several Wrestling state bodies and organisations have raised their voices questioning the demands of wrestlers. In a letter to the Sports Minister, it has been stated that wrestlers have no authority to make such demands and the constitution of wrestling allows anyone to contest the election if he is not guilty. It further stated that even if Brij Bhushan's tenure is complete, his family members can contest as they are members of the state wrestling body.

The letter has been written by Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, Anti-terrorist Front India, Brahman Mahapanchayat, Vishwa Hindu Takht and Rajput Uthan Sabha.

The voters list for the WFI elections will be released on June 19 following which the nomination process will begin. The members of the state body can only participate and vote in the WFI chief election.

Since the tussle between the Wrestlers and Brij Bhushan started, wrestling activity has come to a halt across the country. United World Wrestling (UWW), the international body of wrestling gave a 45-day ultimatum to conduct WFI elections in the wake of the wrestlers' protest.

Brij Bhushan remains mum on participation of his family members in WFI chief election

During interviews with Republic Media Network, Brij Bhushan has been mum on the participation of his family members in the WFI chief election. 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.

Haryana Wrestling State Body President, Rohtash Singh told Republic TV, "This is the fundamental right of the family members of Brij Bhushan Singh to fight WFI elections. No one can cease the rights of others."

He added that wrestlers are supposed to do wrestling and not indulge in administration decisions. Furthermore, he opined that wrestling has become prominent in the tenure of the ex-WFI chief and his contribution cannot be ignored.

"We can't say anything now as it is premature at this point. After the voter list comes, all the state bodies will unanimously take a decision on who will be the President of WFI," Rohtash Singh said, adding, "The state bodies are not going to oppose if any member of Brij Bhushan's family stands for president's election."

Another Wrestling state body member from Maharashtra, Yogesh Dodke said, "All state bodies only have one thought that we will elect only that person who will work for wrestling. We have seen in the continuous three terms of Brij Bhushan that he has got medals through these wrestlers."

"The state bodies will meet once the voter list comes and the voting will happen but it will be pre-decided unanimously by us in a meeting beforehand only. We used to respect these wrestlers but now they have disrespected wrestling. Apart from these three prominent wrestlers and their relatives, no other wrestlers across the country supported them," Dodke added.