Brij Bhushan, excluded from electoral rolls, convenes meeting ahead of WFI polls

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former Wrestling Federation of India president, convened a meeting on Sunday to nominate his intimates for various key posts - president, general secretary, and treasurer.

Brij Bhushan, who has been facing charges of sexual harassment, has been excluded from the WFI's electoral college along with his family members, making them ineligible for key posts. Brij Bhushan, according to the National Sports Code, is not eligible to contest the poll since he has already completed 12 years as an office bearer.

His son Karan Pratap, the erstwhile vice-president of the WFI, has also been excluded from the electoral college.

The Indian government has dissolved the WFI relenting to the demand of protesting wrestlers - Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik. And the day-to-day affairs of the federation are being run by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) appointed ad-hoc committee chaired by Bhupender Singh Bajwa.

The BJP leader's son-in-law Vishal Singh, however, will be part of the polls as the representative of the Bihar state association. Vishal is the president of the Bihar state association. But he is not in the fray for any key position.

Vinod Tomar, the former assistant secretary of the WFI who has also been facing charges of sexual harassment, said the meeting had been scheduled on June 30. However, he did not reveal the venue for the meeting.

“Yes, the outgoing president has convened a meeting on Sunday. It has not been decided where the meeting will take place. The meeting will likely be attended by all those (state body officials) who support him (Brij Bhushan),” Tomar was quoted as saying by PTI.

“The presidents and secretaries of the various state associations will likely come for the meeting to discuss the candidates for the elections. The venue for the meeting has not been decided as yet,” added Tomar.

The last date for filing nominations is August 1, the scrutiny will be conducted the following day, and the final list of the candidates will be released on August 7. The polling will be held on August 12.

(With PTI Inputs)