In the Wrestling Federations of India (WFI) elections held on Thursday (21st December), former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh‘s close aide Sanjay Singh emerged as the winner. He will be the next president, showing that the wrestlers who protested against the former president do not enjoy much popularity. Sanjay Singh defeated former grappler Anita Sheoran in this election.
The voting was held earlier in the day in Delhi, and the votes were counted after that. The election of a new president means that the suspension of WFI by the global wrestling body United World Wrestling will be lifted. UWW had suspended WFI for failing to hold elections before the August deadline, and Indians wrestlers have been competing as neutral athletes at international events after that.
After winning the WFI election, Sanjay Kumar Singh said, “We will organise the national camp soon. We will not let go this year in vain. This is the year for the Olympics. Therefore we will organise the national camps so that our players can prepare for the games.”
#WATCH | Former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's aide Sanjay Singh elected as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2023
"…National Camps (for wrestling) will be organised. Wrestlers who want to do politics can do politics, those want to do wrestling will do… pic.twitter.com/wUsYpFNvIT
Sanjay Kumar Singh added, “Wrestlers who want to do politics can do politics, those who want to do wrestling will do wrestling. We will politically answer the wrestlers who want to do politics.”
The elections were held for 15 posts, including the president, treasurer, secretary-general, and senior vice-president. There were two candidates for the president’s position, former Commonwealth Games Gold medallist Anita Sheoran and Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation vice president Sanjay Singh. Anita Sheoran was backed by wrestlers who were protesting against the former president, including Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat.
Sanjay Kumar Singh has been involved in the wrestling fraternity for a long time and is the vice president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. He has been associated with the WFI for over a decade, he was part of the previous executive council and was also the joint secretary in 2019. He was backed by former president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Meanwhile, wrestlers who had protested against BJP MP and former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment of multiple female wrestlers, have declared that they will hold a press conference after the WFI elections. Vinesh Phogat said in an X post, “There are wrestling association elections tomorrow. After the elections, we wrestlers will hold a press conference at 4 pm. All media persons are requested to attend the press conference. Location: Press Club of India, Delhi.”
कल कुश्ती संघ के चुनाव हैं.. चुनाव के बाद शाम 4 बजे हम पहलवान एक प्रेस कॉन्फ़्रेंस करेंगे।
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 20, 2023
सभी मीडिया के साथियों से गुज़ारिश है कि प्रेस कॉन्फ़्रेंस में ज़रूर पहुँचें 🙏
स्थान: प्रेस क्लब ऑफ़ इंडिया दिल्ली
Before the elections, former grappler Anita Sheoran had said that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s control over WFI would continue if his loyalists like Sanjay Kumar, a vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association win the WFI elections.
— Vinesh Phogat (@Phogat_Vinesh) December 18, 2023
She said, “If women wrestlers are to feel safe, WFI needs a proper cleanup and there is no point to the prolonged struggle if the elections don’t bring about change.” Protesting wrestlers were also supporting Anita Sheoran. Vinesh Phogat shared a news report of Anita Sheoran’s remarks.
The protesting wrestlers had requested that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his aides should not allowed to contest elections. Therefore, Sanjay Singh’s election comes as a massive setback for them.
