Former WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh accused Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat of 'cheating' to attend the games.
Former president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, against whom the wrestlers levelled severe allegations of sexual harassment, accused Olympic wrestler Vinesh Phogat of ‘cheating’ to attend the games and added that she could not win the tournament as the ‘god punished her.’
“I want to ask Vinesh Phogat whether a player can give trials in 2 weight categories in a day. Can the trials be stopped for 5 hours after the weigh-in?… You did not win the wrestling, you went there by cheating. God has punished you for the same,” the former WFI President said.
The heated remark came a day after Phogat and Punia, who led the wrestlers’ protest against Brij Bhushan last year, entered politics by joining the Congress on Friday. While Phogat was fielded as the Congress candidate for the upcoming Haryana Assembly polls from Julana, Punia was appointed the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.
‘Punia Went to Asian Games Without Trials’
Stepping up the offensive, the BJP leader alleged that Bajrang Punia participated in the Asian Games without completing the trials.
“Haryana is the crown of India in the field of sports. And they stopped the wrestling activities for almost 2.5 years. Is it not true that Bajrang went to the Asian Games without trials? I want to ask those who are experts in wrestling,” Bhushan said.
He said that he is not guilty of ‘disrespecting daughters’ and added, “If anyone is guilty of disrespecting daughters, it is Bajrang and Vinesh. And the one who wrote the script, Bhupinder Hooda, is responsible for that”.
#WATCH | “Haryana is the crown of India in the field of sports. And they stopped the wrestling activities for almost 2.5 years. Is it not true that Bajrang went to the Asian Games without trials? I want to ask those who are experts in wrestling. I want to ask Vinesh Phogat… pic.twitter.com/NQvMVS6dPF— ANI (@ANI) September 7, 2024
‘Wrestlers’ Protest Happened At Behest of Congress’
The President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Sanjay Singh, also broke his silence on Phogat and Punia joining the Congress and said that it was bound to happen as the entire wrestlers’ protest took place at the behest of the Congress party and its leaders.
“This was bound to happen. It is known to the whole country that this entire protest was happening at the behest of Congress and its mastermind was Deepender Hooda, the Hooda family. The foundation of this protest was laid on the day when our Prime Minister praised Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, saying that wrestling is in safe hands,” Singh said.
“This entire conspiracy was also hatched because 4-5 wrestling medals were going to come in the Olympics. The protest also affected those medals. There was no wrestling activity for 2 years in the Olympic year, so due to that, we got fewer medals. Our wrestlers were not able to practice… Now these people are not going to have any impact on our wrestling association,” he added.
Meanwhile, Phogat after joining the Congress said that BJP was supporting Singh but the Congress party supported the protesting wrestlers when they were being ‘mishandled by the police on roads. Punia echoes same lines, saying that Congress backed wrestlers during tough times.
