BJP’s Gag Order On Brij Bhushan As Wrestlers Join Congress Ahead Of Haryana Polls: Sources

The BJP has asked former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to take care not to create any row with comments at wrestlers, sources have said.

The former BJP MP faced allegations of sex harassment from some of the top athletes in the country including Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. Mr Singh has alleged the allegations against him were a conspiracy hatched by the Congress, pointing at Ms Phogat and wrestler Bajrang Punia joining the Congress party ahead of the assembly election in Haryana.

“They (Mr Punia and Ms Phogat) were the faces… they were mohrey (pawns). They were used like pawns by (former Haryana Chief Minister) Bhupinder Hooda, the Congress and the Congress family,” Mr Singh told news agency PTI. “This was all conspired to gain a hold on the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology… This team of Rahul (Gandhi), the Congress keeps doing these things,” he said.

It was in 2012 when Mr Singh first got control of the WFI after a bitter turf war with Mr Hooda. Following Mr Singh’s latest comments, the BJP asked him not to pass any more comments against the wrestlers, sources said. Haryana sends a large number of sportspersons to national teams. Athletes in the state are seen to command large loyal followers, and this may have prompted the BJP to caution its former MP to keep quiet.

The BJP does not want to see any new narrative linked to the wrestlers’ protest, which had drawn a lot of support in Haryana, sources said. After the allegations made by the women wrestlers, the BJP did not give Mr Singh a ticket from Kaiserganj and made his son Karan Bhushan Singh the candidate in the Lok Sabha election earlier this year.

Karan Bhushan Singh won the election by a margin of over 1.48 lakh votes, defeating Samajwadi Party’s Bhagat Ram. On Friday, both Ms Phogat and Mr Punia said they would continue the fight against Mr Singh with the former asserting she would ensure that no woman faces what she had to go through.

The 30-year-old, who is a two-time world championships medallist besides being an Asiad gold-winner, will contest from Julana constituency. Mr Punia has been made the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.