WFI President Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan tagged Sports Minister Anurag Thakur in pictures of a wrestling event, which he posted on Facebook. (Image: @ Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh / Facebook)
The BJP MP was at the inauguration of the Senior National Open Ranking Wrestling Tournament organized by the Wrestling Federation of India in Gonda where posters featuring his picture were prominently displayed.
Hours after Sports Minister Anurag Thakur said that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh would “step aside from day-to-day activity” as WFI president for four weeks due to an investigation, the BJP MP won a place at a national-level wrestling event in Gonda. Made it on Saturday. The wrestling body said that Singh was “neither suspended nor terminated”.
Singh was welcomed as the “chief guest” during the inauguration of the three-day Senior National Open Ranking wrestling tournament organized by the Wrestling Federation of India in Gonda, with posters featuring his picture prominently displayed at the venue. Making a grand entrance, he was heard saying he was there to “get wrestling” and sat down on stage. He was addressed as the President of the Wrestling Federation India and a BJP MP from the dais, and also tagged the Sports Minister in pictures of the event that he posted on Facebook.
Singh has called the annual general meeting of the WFI in Ayodhya from Monday. A senior official of the central government told News18 that the chief of the wrestling body should have refrained from presiding over the event in Gonda, while WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar said Singh was a president who was neither suspended nor sacked.
Tomar said, “He is still the Speaker… who is being relieved of his duties till the completion of the investigation.”
He added that Singh will not chair the WFI AGM and will not be a signatory, and will not sign any checks or certificates.
In a Facebook post, Singh said, “Till late this evening, met thousands of women and men players from many states including Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, SSB, UP and asked them about their skill and future success. Congratulations for.” Post on Saturday.
Meanwhile, according to local reports, several wrestlers who had come for the event returned to their home states from Gonda before protests broke out at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi by their counterparts. Many said they stand in solidarity with their Haryana colleagues.
Singh has said that the central government cannot remove him from the post of WFI president as he is the elected head of an autonomous organization and only the Wrestling Federation Board can take such a decision.
Tomar further said in the reply to the Sports Ministry, WFI has categorically denied the allegations of sexual harassment. He said, ‘We have also answered the questions of the federation management and work.’ News18,
He said: “Almost all unions are with us; 26 different federations are part of the WFI. What these representatives have to say will be clear at the AGM, but in the talks so far, most of them have expressed confidence in Singh.”
Tomar also said that as per WFI rules, Singh will not be president after his third term ends in April.
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