Brij Bhushan Singh defying Sports Minister Anurag Thakur? BJP MP calls meeting to nominate WFI panel

Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has organized a meeting on Sunday to nominate his panel for contesting the upcoming WFI elections.

Although Brij Bhushan and his son Karan won't be part of the electoral college for the elections, Vishal Singh, Brij Bhushan's son-in-law representing Bihar, may potentially compete for a prominent position.

Vinod Tomar, the outgoing WFI assistant secretary, who is the co-accused in the sexual harassment case alongside Brij Bhushan, confirmed the scheduled meeting on July 30, while the exact venue is yet to be determined.

"The outgoing president has convened a meeting on Sunday. The venue for the meeting has not been decided as yet," stated Tomar, adding that state association presidents and secretaries are likely to attend the meeting to discuss candidates for the elections.

The news, however, will surely come as a shock to the wrestlers, who were given an assurance by Sports Minister Anurag Thakur that neither Brij Bhushan's family members nor his associates will be allowed to contest the WFI elections.

Nominations for the August 12 elections must be filed by July 31.

As Brij Bhushan has already served the maximum term of 12 years as an office-bearer, he is not eligible to contest the elections based on the National Sports Code.

Currently, the day-to-day operations of WFI are overseen by the Indian Olympic Association-constituted ad-hoc committee led by Bhupender Singh Bajwa.

Ranbir Kundu, the secretary of the Punjab Wrestling Association, revealed that they had not yet received any invitation from any candidate or party to attend their meeting. He stated that they do not plan to field any candidate for the top positions but will vote for the betterment of wrestling in the country.

Two representatives from each state unit will be allowed to vote in the elections. However, Maharashtra and Tripura will have no representatives as their claims were deemed "ineligible" by the Returning Officer, and Tripura has remained disaffiliated since 2016.

The WFI elections have faced multiple postponements. Initially scheduled for July 6 by the IOA ad-hoc panel, it was rescheduled to July 11 after disaffiliated state bodies from Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh sought a hearing. However, the elections couldn't proceed on July 11 due to a stay order from the Gauhati High Court, following the Assam Wrestling Association's plea to participate in the process. The Supreme Court subsequently allowed the elections to proceed by staying the Gauhati High Court's order.

Scrutiny of the nominations will be conducted on August 2, and the final list of candidates will be published on August 7. Voting will take place on August 12.

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(With PTI inputs)