Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia were used by Cong as pawns: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Gonda (UP), Sep 7 (PTI) Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were used by the Congress as “pawns” in a “conspiracy” to take control of the Wrestling Federation of India and attack the BJP, former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said on Saturday.

A day after Olympians Phogat and Punia joined the Congress party, the senior BJP leader reiterated that former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was behind the plot against him as he had defeated his son Deepender Singh Hooda in the 2012 WFI elections.

“They (Punia and Phogat) were faces… they were mohrey (pawns). They were used like pawns by (former Haryana chief minister) Bhupinder Hooda, the Congress and the Congress family,” he told PTI Videos.

“This was all conspired to gain a hold on the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology…This team of Rahul, the Congress keeps doing these things,” he said.

It was in 2012 when Singh first got control of WFI after a bitter turf war with Hooda. He had a vice-like grip on the body before the protest against him started last year for allegedly sexually harassing and intimidating women wrestlers.

Phogat and Punia, who is an Olympic bronze-medallist, along with another Olympic bronze-winner Sakshi Malik spearheaded the agitation.

As a result, Singh, who was a six-time Lok Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj constituency, had to step down from the position of WFI head and he is also facing criminal charges in the court.

After his ouster, his close aide Sanjay Singh was elected as the head of WFI but the body has still not got recognition from the sports ministry even though the world governing body for wrestling, UWW, has endorsed it.

On Friday, both Phogat and Punia stated that they would continue the fight against Singh with the former asserting she would ensure that no woman faces what she had to go through.

The 30-year-old, who is a two-time world championships medallist besides being an Asiad gold-winner, will be contesting from the Julana constituency in the Haryana assembly polls scheduled next month.

She recently hit the headlines for reaching the Olympic finals before being disqualified on the day of the summit bout for being 100gm overweight.

Singh was expectedly dismissive of her statements.

“What happened with her? The incident that she alleges happened at a time when I was in Lucknow. Time will tell the truth,” he said.

Punia, on the other hand, has been made working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.

In contrast, Malik has steered clear of joining politics, saying she would continue the agitation without aligning herself with any outfit despite being offered to do so.

However, the Rio Games star, who quit the sport after Sanjay Singh’s election as WFI head, has offered her best wishes to the two grapplers, calling their decision a personal choice.