Gurugram: Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has said that the Indian wrestling team that has gone for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, is unlikely to repeat its past performance, citing the protests against him as a factor.
“I don’t have much hope of medals from the wrestling team that has gone to China to participate in the 19th Asian Games… due to the agitation of some wrestlers in Delhi, neither any camp was held nor were any competitions possible at the national level,” Singh said in Rohtak, Haryana, during a media interaction Wednesday.
Singh is facing criminal proceedings for alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers and is out on bail. He faced a months-long protest led by India’s ace wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik that was called off in June in light of the police investigation launched against him.
Phogat and Punia got direct entry into the Asian Games in July.
On the chargesheet filed against him by Delhi Police, the former WFI chief said no charges had so far been framed against him by the court and that he would challenge the chargesheet.
“Of the 108 witnesses mentioned in the chargesheet, merely four — jija, saali and saali jija — are against me,” he said, apparently referring to wrestlers Bajrang Punia, his wife Sangita Phogat, sister-in-law Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik.
Claiming that the WFI ad-hoc committee, which gave direct entry to Punia and Vinesh Phogat on the country’s wrestling team for the Asian Games, was ignorant about the rules and practices, Singh said, “If some players consider they are seniors, they must participate in the trials so that before competing with international players, they, too, know where they stand.”
He blamed the sexual harassment row on Rajya Sabha MP Deepender Hooda and his father, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, saying the duo, along with “some industrialists who wanted to control wrestling”, hatched a conspiracy against him.
“These people were upset that I was continuing in the federation because they wanted to run the affairs as per their interests,” he added.
Contacted by The Print Thursday, Deepender Hooda said that he didn’t need to give any explanation after the Delhi Police chargesheet that Singh tried to sexually harass women wrestlers at every possible opportunity.
“As far as the BJP’s allegations that we supported the wrestlers during their agitation, I am proud that we supported our daughters and will always do so,” Deepender Hooda said.
Also read: Brij Bhushan chargesheeted, but case against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh comes to a crawl
‘Damage already done’
On the controversy over sending Punia directly to the Asiad, which made Vishal Kaliraman a standby just when he was about to compete in the final trials, Singh said, “Now, he (Punia) says he will accept the challenge thrown by Kaliraman’s supporters after returning from the Asian Games. Who will pay him any money once the games are over? If he had confidence in his strength, he should have accepted the challenge before going to Hangzhou.”
The BJP MP said he was confident he would come clean in the case, but the damage that had been done to his reputation was irreparable. “What will they (the protesters) say to my family and supporters when I am cleared of all these charges?” he asked.
“I can safely say one thing. You had WFI chiefs before me and will have many after me. But my name will be etched in the history of wrestling in India for what I did for the sport,” Singh said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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