Lucknow: Asked about the wrestlers’ protests against BJP’s Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment allegations, the party’s Sultanpur MP Maneka Gandhi told mediapersons Wednesday, “It is a matter of regret. May god help them get justice.”
The statement by Maneka — who along with her son and Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi has been sidelined by the BJP in recent years — comes in the backdrop of the party’s studied silence on the issue.
At least seven women wrestlers have accused Wrestling Federation of India chief (WFI) Brij Bhushan of sexual harassment. On his part, the WFI chief continues to insist on his innocence, calling the allegations “politically motivated and influenced by Congress”.
Led by some of India’s top names in wrestling, such as Vinesh Phogat, the first woman to have won India a gold in the Commonwealth (2014) and Asian Games (2018), Olympic bronze medalists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, the protests first began in January but were called off after the Union sports ministry set up an oversight committee to look into the allegations.
As a result of the protest, Brij Bhushan was asked to temporarily step down from the post of WFI chief pending investigation.
The oversight committee, which was headed by ace boxer and Olympian Mary Kom, has reportedly submitted its report, but its findings have yet to be made public.
The wrestlers, who returned to their protest site at Jantar Mantar in April, have been demanding that Brij Bhushan be arrested and the committee’s findings be made public.
While the Delhi Police finally agreed to lodge two FIRs against the Kaiserganj MP after the Supreme Court issued a notice to them last week, wrestlers continue their protest demanding that he be “arrested and removed from all the posts” he holds.
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At odds with their party
A former Union minister of women and child development, Maneka and her son Varun were dropped from the BJP’s national executive in 2021.
Varun has frequently struck a seemingly defiant stand against his party over a range of issues, including the Modi government’s now-repealed farm laws and the protests against the government’s Agnipath short-term Army recruitment scheme.
It was after his criticism of the former that Varun was removed from the BJP national executive.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)