Haryana: Rahul Gandhi Meets Bajrang Poonia, Other Wrestlers Amid Row Over WFI Chief Election

Amid the ongoing tussle between wrestlers and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday some of India’s prominent grapplers, including Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Poonia, at a gathering in Haryana’s Jhajjar district.

Gandhi met wrestlers at Virender Arya Akhara in Jhajjar’s Chhara village. Gold medallist of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Deepak Punia, who belongs to the village, was also present there.

Gandhi was at the akhara for a couple of hours. After he left, Bajrang Poonia said, “He (Gandhi) came to see our wrestling routine…He did wrestling…He came to see the day-to-day activities of a wrestler.”

Asked if the WFI issue also figured during the meeting with Gandhi, another grappler said they told the Congress leader that wrestlers have been through a lot of mental stress.

To a question, he described Gandhi’s visit as “impromptu” and said the wrestlers at the “akhara” were not aware of it. “He reached the Akhara at 6.15 am. He asked us about our daily routine, saw how we did our exercises and he too did some exercises. We were happy that he has a lot of wrestling knowledge and also knows some techniques,” the wrestler told reporters.

He said Gandhi also had milk, “Bajre Ki Roti” and “saag” with them. Gandhi was also offered some locally grown vegetables which he took along with him.

The Congress leader is reportedly also scheduled to visit Rohtak later in the day to attend the wrestlers’ arena at Mehar Singh Akhara there.

The meeting came at a time when some of India’s ace wrestlers are protesting against the election of Sanjay Singh as the new WFI chief. Singh is an aide of BJP MP and former wrestling body president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of sexual harassment by protesting athletes.

Poonia, along with Commonwealth Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Sakshee Malikkh had led the protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment charges.

Following Sanjay Singh’s election as WFI, many athletes, including Poonia and Phogat, have decided to return their awards in protest.

Announcing his decision to return his Padma Shri award, Poonia said he will not take it back till “sisters and daughters” fighting against sexual harassment get justice.

Phogat, a two-time World Championship medal winner, also decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna award to the Prime Minister, saying such honours have become meaningless when wrestlers are struggling badly for justice.

Earlier, Malikkh had also announced she would quit wrestling to protest against Sanjay Singh’s victory in the WFI elections.

Since then, the Union Sports Ministry has suspended the activities of WFI citing the hasty announcement of the junior nationals. Now the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is tasked to form an ad hoc committee to oversee the administration and day-to-day activities of the wrestling body.