Last Update: January 20, 2023, 15:27 IST
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh (left) and Deepender Hooda. (File/Twitter)
WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh asked why only a small section of Haryana players were protesting against them. However, Congress MP Deepender Hooda said the protest was apolitical and called it a “desperate tactic”.
wrestling association India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Despite protests, he refused to resign and gave a political twist to the matter, saying that the protesting players were instigated by Haryana Congress leader Deepender Hooda.
Singh told News18 that it was a “political conspiracy” against him by former Haryana Wrestling Federation chief and Congress MP Deepender Hooda. Singh has asked why only a small section of players from Haryana is protesting against him and said that the target was actually the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hooda, however, said that the protest is political and called it a “desperate strategy” on the part of Singh.
However, Hooda has said that he stands firmly by the cause of the wrestlers and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
Hooda said the protesting sportspersons and leveling serious allegations are “national sportspersons who brought laurels to the country in Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games” and should not be seen as just Haryana sportspersons.
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Citing the players’ demand to disband the wrestling federation, the Singh camp is terming it as a battle of ‘Haryana vs others’ for control of the wrestling federation. Singh had defeated Hooda in the election of the wrestling federation president in 2012 and since then the two have been at loggerheads. Singh said that Hooda’s statements on Thursday proved his involvement.
A source close to Singh said that he was trying to promote wrestlers from all over India, which did not go down well with the ‘Haryana camp’. Hooda in his press conference on Thursday said that more than half of the medals won by India in the recent Olympics have been won by wrestlers from Haryana and they have actually prospered under his reign as the President of the Haryana Wrestling Association.
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Hooda has been at the forefront of protest against Haryana Play Also minister Sandeep Singh, who was booked last month on a sexual harassment complaint by another athlete. Hooda said that the BJP government in Haryana had come to the rescue of Sandeep Singh even without any inquiry. Sandeep Singh was an Olympic hockey player and he also alleged political conspiracy against him.
Meanwhile, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said that he is the elected President of the Wrestling Federation of India and will not resign after being portrayed as a villain.
Read this also | Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said, did not talk to Amit Shah and Anurag Thakur, will not resign from the post of WFI chief
He pointed out that there were no complaints against him for a decade and suddenly Haryana players came out with allegations, also announced that they would not be a part of the trials but would directly go for international competitions.
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