In a major show of strength, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s faction filed nominations for all 15 posts.
In the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) executive committee elections on Monday, claiming they have the numbers to sweep the polls.
Singh’s close associate Sanjay Kumar Singh of Uttar Pradesh, joint secretary in the previous WFI body, has filed nomination for the president’s and secretary’s posts. Former wrestler Jai Prakash, who heads the Delhi unit and was a joint secretary, has filed for three posts, including president and secretary. The elections are slated for August 12.
“It will be decided later who takes which posts. Simliarly, we are still to decide on some other posts, but it will be all through consensus,” said a top official in the outgoing WFI body on condition of anonymity. Darshan Lal, who was WFI vice-president, has filed nomination for the post of secretary-general. Another confidant of Brij Bhushan and WFI treasurer (2019), Satya Pal Deshwal will also contest for the same post.
However, a contest is looming with nominations filed by a second group, some of them central and state government officials, including a senior police officer. They filed their nominations later on Monday.
Nomination for the president’s post has been filed by a 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games wrestling gold medallist, Anita Sheoran, who is with Haryana Police and is a witness in the sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan.
Railways Sports Promotion Board secretary Prem Chand Lochab — a key mediator between the protesting wrestlers and the government — is in fray for the secretary-general’s post from this group. Former international wrestler and Jammu and Kashmir senior superintendent of police, Dushyant Sharma, is in the fray for two posts, including president. Devender Singh Kadiyan, chairman of the Mannat Group of Hotels and BJP politician, has also filed nomination for a top post. Government employees need a no objection certificate to contest and hence are seen as serious candidates.
They did not reveal their strategy and rushed through filing their nominations late in the evening and left without taking to the media. One of the protesting wrestlers, Jitender Kinha, was also there to support them. The protesting wrestlers had demanded the ouster of Brij Bhushan, his family members and close associates from WFI.
Returning officer, Justice (retd) MM Kumar, said the list of nominations will be displayed on Tuesday. “Against 15 posts, 30 persons have applied. There are four candidates for president’s post, three for sr vice-preisdent, six for vice-president, three for secretary-general, two for treasurer, three for joint secretary and nine for executive member. Tomorrow, we will display the lists of all candidates whose nominations papers are found to be in order,” he said.
In contrast to the other group, the Brij Bhushan camp swamped the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) headquarters on Monday afternoon and went through the nomination process with great enthusiasm. Vishal Singh, Brij Bhushan’s son-in-law and Bihar association president, was overseeing the entire process though he had not filed a nomination.
“Brij Bhushan ji is not a member in the voters’ list but we are all supporting him. We are here for him and we feel that WFI has done tremendously well under his leadership,” said Vishal.
One of the demands of the protesting wrestlers was that Brij Bhushan and his family must stay away from the elections. Asked about it, he said: “I feel the entire committee wanted some of us to be on the panel, but it was a decision amongst us that we are not interested and whosever comes will do a good job. For all the allegations against us, that we are power hungry, that WFI is run by family, we’ve given them a very quiet and polite answer.”
Vishal said, if the elections took place, they are confident of sweeping them.
“It’s an election. Whosoever wants to contest can. I believe 22 members out of 25 state units are supporting him. We are more than confident. You can see the turnout here. Majority of people have come with us on their own. We are well prepared for the election,” he said.
An official aware of the election developments said things might still change for the Brij Bhushan group, or there might be a compromise on a few posts. “Some of contestants from the other faction need NOC from the government to fight a federation election. They would not have filed nominations without getting a go-ahead,” the official said.
The Brij Bhushan camp has put up a show of strength in the last two days. He personally met all the state units backing him in the Capital on Sunday. There was another meeting with him on Monday morning before the nominations were finalised. A top wrestling official said there were many attempts in the past few days to break their unity. “They are trying various methods to take people from our group but that’s not going to happen. Also, there will be no compromise in giving space to some of the contestants from the other group in the executive committee,” a top outgoing office-bearer said.
Considered a close aide of Brij Bhushan, Sanjay Singh, 51, comes from Varanasi. He is a vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. A businessman, Singh owns large tracts of land and farms in UP’s Chandauli district. He claimed majority support. “We’re confident of winning the elections,” Singh said.