NEW DELHI: Sanjay Singh, a close aide of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has been appointed as the new president of the wrestling federation of India (WFI).
Sanjay Singh defeated former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran by 40 votes to 7 in the much-awaited WFI elections, which were held in New Delhi on Thursday (December 21).
Following this development, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshee Malikkh, in an emotional address to the media, said that she was going to quit wrestling.
She expressed her disappointment over Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, getting elected as WFI president.
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Sakshee Malikkh, speaking to the media, said the promises made by the union sports ministry of not allowing any family and close aides of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to be elected as the new WFI chief were not fulfilled.
Sakshi said that Sanjay Singh, who served as the vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation, was the right-hand man of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Sakshee Malikkh along with Tokyo Olympics medallist Bajrang Punia broke down while briefing the media.
“We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” she said.
“We gathered a lot of courage for this fight against the WFI President (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh). But today, his right hand (referring to Sanjay Singh) has been elected as the new WFI President. We had demanded a woman be made the president, but that has not been fulfilled,” she added.