"Not Congress, Two BJP Leaders Helped Us" - Sakshi Malik Alleges Babita Phogat's Role in Wrestlers Protest

Olympic medal-winning wrestler Sakhsi Malik has alleged that BJP leader Babita Phogat played a role in the wrestlers' protest against former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with an aim to replace him as the WFI president.

In January 2023, some of the Indian wrestlers protested, demanding for investigation into allegations of sexual harassment of female wrestlers by then BJP MP Singh, the former WFI chief.

Many had alleged that the opposition especially, Congress had a role in those protests led by Sakshi, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia. But in a sensational claim, Sakshi has revealed that BJP's Babita Phogat encouraged the wrestlers to rally against the former chief of WFI.

"Babita Phogat approached us with the idea of protesting against Brij Bhushan Singh because she had her own agenda - she wanted to become the WFI president," Malik was quoted as saying by India Today.

The former Olympic bronze medallist also dismissed claims of Congress supporting the protest and revealed that two Bharatiya Janata Party leaders helped them gain permission to protest in Haryana, a state ruled by the BJP.

"There are rumours that Congress supported our protest, but that's false. In fact, two BJP leaders helped us secure permission to protest in Haryana - Babita Phogat and Tirath Rana," Malik added.

Malik also added that the protesting wrestlers did not blindly follow Babita, but believed having a women take over the role would help them in their fight against the wrongdoings of the ex WFI chief.

"It's not that we blindly followed her, but we were aware that there were serious issues like sexual harassment and molestation within the federation. We believed that having a woman in charge, especially someone like Babita Phogat, who is also a sportsperson, would bring positive change," Malik said.

The 32-year-old, who won the bronze in Rio 2016, also said they got played by Babita believing she would help them voice their concerns and be a part of the wrestlers protest.

"We trusted that she would understand our struggles. But we never anticipated that she would play such a big game with us," she said. "We thought she would sit with us in the protest and raise her voice against the wrongdoing as a fellow wrestler."

The conspiracy of Congress' involvement comes after Vinesh, a front-face in the protests, joined the party ahead of the Haryana Legislative Assembly elections and also won from Julana constituency, beating off BJP's Yogesh Kumar Bairagi by 6000 votes.