Priyanka Gandhi urged PM Modi to ask Wrestling body chief to resign amid row.
New Delhi:
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Monday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ask Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to resign from the post amid sexual harassment allegations against him by the country’s top wrestlers.
Congress General Secretary was referring to a news report, wherein the Bharatiya Janata Party MP was quoted as saying that he’ll resign as WFI president if PM Modi asks him to do so.
Citing Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s remarks, Ms Gandhi asked PM Modi to say “yes”.
“… @narendramodi please say it. The justice awaits your ‘yes’,” she tweeted in Hindi.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Singh told ANI that one cannot get justice from Jantar Mantar and that if you want it you have to knock the door of the court.
The Delhi Police on Friday registered two FIRs against the WFI president over allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation of female wrestlers by him.
Top Indian grapplers such as Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and many others wrestlers are involved in the protest at Jantar Mantar against the WFI chief.
While speaking to ANI, Singh claimed that 90 per cent of the athletes of Haryana trust the country’s top wrestling body.
“90 per cent of the athletes and guardians of Haryana trust the Wrestling Federation of India. A few families and the girls who have levelled allegations belonged to the same ‘akhada’…The patron of that ‘akhada’ is Deepender Hooda,” Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told ANI.
Earlier in the WFI chief held a press conference in which he asserted that if he resigns from his post it would mean that he has accepted the allegations which have been raised by the wrestlers.
During his press conference, the WFI Chief alleged that the wrestlers are coming with new demands.
“If I resign that means I have accepted their allegations, my tenure is about to end. Till a new party is formed and the government has formed IOA committee under that committee elections will be held and then my tenure will end,” he said while speaking with media.
WFI chief added, “Every day they (wrestlers) are coming with their new demands. They demanded FIR, FIR was registered and now they are saying that I should be sent to jail and resign from all posts. I am MP because of the people of my constituency and not because of Vinesh Phogat. Only one family and Akhara (are protesting). Why not people from any other place complaining? Why players from other states Himachal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and other states are not coming forward? 90 per cent of players of Haryana are with me”.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)