Bajrang Punia returns his Padma Shri award to Prime Minister to protest against WFI Election result

New Delhi, Dec 22: A day after Sanjay Singh was elected as President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), which triggered an outrage among protesting wrestlers, ace grappler Bajrang Punia on Friday (December 22) announced returning his Padma Shri Award.

Sanjay Singh - who is a close aide of outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh against whom the protesters complained of sexual assault - won after his panel comfortably won 13 of the 15 posts in the much-delayed polls.

Punia - Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist wrestler - wrote on his X handle, formerly known as Twitter, "I am returning my Padmashree award to the Prime Minister. This is just my letter to announce that. This is my statement."

Bajrang Punia's Full Statement

Immediately after the election of Sanjay Singh, Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from the sport as a mark of protest. The trio of Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Malik had launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan in January this year, aggressively pushing for a change of guard in the WFI but a close associate of the BJP MP is now at the helm.

Sanjay Singh, the UP Wrestling Association vice-president hailing from Varanasi, secured 40 votes as against seven of his rival and 2010 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran.

The panel of Sheoran though managed to win the key post of secretary-general with Prem Chand Lochab, a former Railways Sports Promotion Board (RSPB) secretary, defeating Darshan Lal 27-19.

Devender Singh Kadian, who runs a chain of food joints on National Highways and is considered to be close to protesting wrestlers, claimed the senior vice president's post, beating I D Nanavati 32-15.

The victory of these two candidates from the Sheoran camp suggests a compromise formula must have been worked out since Sanjay Singh won by a huge margin while votes were split in the elections for these two posts.

"It's a triumph for thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered in the past 7-8 months," Sanjay Singh told reporters after his huge win. "We will respond to politics with politics and wrestling with wrestling," Sanjay replied when asked about politics being played within the federation.

Sakshi Malik quit wrestling

Less than one kilometer away from the WFI office, the country's top wrestlers Punia, Phogat, and Malik addressed the media, expressing their disappointment with the outcome of the polls.

Sakshi, as a mark of protest against the election result, quit the sport. She had been struggling of late and had lost trials to young wrestler Sonam Malik several times before winning gold at the Birmingham CWG Games in 2022.

"We fought from our heart but if a man like Brij Bhushan, his business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I give up wrestling. From today onwards you will not see me on the mat," a teary-eyed Sakshi said and kept her shoes on the table in a dramatic announcement.

"We wanted a female president but that did not happen," the 31-year-old added. Ahead of the elections, Punia and Malik had requested Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to stop anyone associated with Brij Bhushan from contesting the WFI polls. Consequently, neither Brij Bhushan's son Prateek nor son-in-law Vishal Singh entered the fray.

"It's unfortunate that the government did not stand by its word that no Brij Bhushan loyalist will contest WFI election," Bajrang said, adding that he is also not sure if he wants to continue his career. "Upcoming women wrestlers will also face exploitation," feared Vinesh.

(With PTI inputs)