Brij Bhushan Singh and his son Karan are no longer a part of the WFI polls. However, his son-in-law finds entry into the Electoral College
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General Turn of Events
Brij Bhushan Singh’s predatory reign might finally end at WFI. The final voter list for the upcoming polls was released on Tuesday. The list did not include the names of either Brij Bhushan or his younger son Karan. They are not going to be a part of the WFI elections anymore.
Both Brij Bhushan Singh and his son who head Uttar Pradesh’s Wrestling Association were the chosen representatives of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association (UPWA). Sources had informed The Times of India that Brij Bhushan and his son had withdrawn their names from the upcoming August 12 elections.
The voters’ list for the Wrestling Federation of India has been prepared by (Retd.) Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar. The Electoral College consists of only 50 individuals who can vote or even be nominated to be a member of the WFI executive committee for three years between 2024 and 2026.
The ex-WFI President has been accused by no less than six female wrestlers of sexual misconduct. The gold medal-winning wrestlers have been protesting for a long period to end Singh’s reign of terror.
The Indian wrestlers – Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia – met with the Union Sports Minister, Anurag Thakur last month. They had urged Thakur that no one from Brij Bhushan’s Family should run in the elections. While their demand has been partly granted, Singh’s son-in-law Vishal Pratap Singh’s name has been mentioned on the list.
Who are on the WFI list?
In place of Brij Bhushan and his son Prem Kumar Mishra and Sanjay Singh will cast their vote as the representatives of UPWA. Singh’s son-in-law Vishal Pratap Singh who is the president of Bihar’s wrestling board will be casting his vote alongside Vinay Kumar Singh.
There are some other eye-widening names mentioned on the list. The most interesting name on the list is Prem Chand Lochab. Lochab is the Secretary of the Railway Sports Promotion Board (RSPB). He has entered the Electoral College along with I D Nanavati from Gujarat. Nanavati is known to be a Brij Bhushan loyalist. Lochab’s entry from Gujarat has raised eyebrows because he helms from Rajasthan.
Lochab has good relationships with the Jat community of Haryana and Rajasthan. However, the constitution of WFI strictly allows candidates only to run from the states they belong to. Lochab’s entry from Gujarat is suspicious.
It will be worthwhile to know that the protesting wrestlers including Phogat, Punia, and Malik are all Railway employees and they directly report to Lochab.
Anita Sheoran, a Common Wealth Gold Medalist from 2010 and a witness in the sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan Singh has been selected to represent Odisha. Surprisingly, an ad-hoc panel has decided to grant the state of Assam a voting right. It has been mentioned in a report by India Today that a source from WFI has questioned the decision of the ad-hoc panel since the decision of granting membership to a state can be done only by the General Council. Devender Kadian who is a close associate of Dushyant Chautela, the Deputy CM of Haryana would be contesting from Assam. Incidentally, just like Lochab, he has no connection with the northeastern state either.
Brij Bhushan Singh is no longer eligible to serve as President.
According to the National Sports Code, any office bearer can only serve for 12 years. Brij Bhushan has already outlived his maximum limit as far as his tenure is concerned. The BJP MP from Kaisergunj in Uttar Pradesh is currently out on bail. Although the Delhi Police had guaranteed that they created a watertight case against Singh he was granted bail with regard to the sexual harassment allegations last week by a Delhi Court.
