WFI President Sanjay Singh on Bajrang and Vinesh joining the party

Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Sanjay Singh on Saturday said the joining of wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia to the Congress party is proof that the Congress party is behind the wrestlers’ protest and that Deepender Hooda and the Hooda family are the driving forces behind the protest.

Singh told ANI that the move was inevitable and the protest was taking place at the request of the Congress party.

“They joined the Congress, so this proves that they were behind that protest. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was associated with the BJP. I am not associated with any party or person, but they were against me… This whole protest was politically motivated,” he said.

“This had to happen. The entire country knows that this entire protest was at the behest of the Congress and the mastermind was Deepender Hooda, the Hooda family. The foundation of this protest was laid on the day our Prime Minister Brij Bhushan praised Sharan Singh and said that wrestling is in safe hands,” he added.

He further stated that the entire protest had halted wrestling activities for two years, resulting in the country winning fewer medals at the Paris Olympics.

“They started the protest and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh distanced himself from wrestling, so the issue should have ended there, but it was politically motivated and Congress was behind it… This whole conspiracy was also hatched because there were going to be 4-5 wrestling medals 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 less medals. Our wrestlers could not train… Now these people are not going to have any impact on our wrestling association,” the WFI president said.

Earlier today, former WFI president and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had said that Phogat and Punia joining the Congress party proves that the entire wrestlers’ movement was a “conspiracy” against him and that the Congress party was behind it. Brij Bhushan further stated that just when the wrestlers’ protest started at Jantar Mantar in January last year, he had claimed that it was not a movement of sportsmen and that the Congress, led by Bhupinder Hooda, was behind it.

“On January 18, 2023, when the protest started at Jantar Mantar, I said that this is not a movement of sportsmen; Congress is behind it. Especially Bhupinder Hooda, Deepender Hooda, Priyanka Ji and Rahul Ji. This is a movement of Congress. And today it has been proven. In this entire movement, the conspiracy that happened against us, Congress was involved and Bhupinder Hooda was leading it,” he said.

Singh further alleged that the wrestler’s protest was not meant for the dignity of women, adding that the ‘daughters’ of Haryana are being embarrassed by the protests.

Earlier on Friday, two top wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, joined the Congress, almost a month ahead of the Haryana assembly elections.

Punia won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, while Vinesh Phogat became the first female wrestler to reach the final of the Olympic Games in Paris last month.

The wrestlers resigned from Northern Railways earlier that day.

Within hours of joining the party, wrestler Vinesh Phogat was fielded in Julana constituency for the upcoming Haryana elections. Bajrang Punia, on the other hand, was appointed working president of the All India Kisan Congress.

Punia and Phogat attended the congress in the presence of Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal, party leader Pawan Khera, Udai Bhan and Deepak Babaria, in-charge of AICC in Haryana.

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