Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were used as pawns by Congress: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were used by the Congress as “pawns” in a “conspiracy” to take over the Wrestling Federation of India and attack the BJP, former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said on Saturday.

A day after Olympians Phogat and Punia joined the Congress party, the senior BJP leader reiterated that former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was behind the conspiracy against him as he had defeated his son Deepender Singh Hooda in the 2012 WFI elections.

“They (Punia and Phogat) were faces… they were mohrey (pawns). They were used as pawns by (former Haryana chief minister) Bhupinder Hooda, the Congress and the Congress family,” he told PTI Videos.

“All this was conspired to take over the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology… This Rahul team, the Congress continues to do these things,” he said.

It was in 2012 that Singh took control of WFI after a bitter turf war with Hooda. He had a tight grip on the body before the protest against him began last year for allegedly sexually harassing and intimidating women wrestlers.

Phogat and Olympic bronze medallist Punia along with another Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik spearheaded the agitation.

As a result, Singh, who was a six-time Lok Sabha MP from Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh, had to resign as WFI chief and he is also facing criminal charges in court.

After his ouster, his close aide Sanjay Singh was elected as the new WFI chairman, but the body has yet to get recognition from the sports ministry, even though wrestling’s world governing body, the UWW, has endorsed it.

On Friday, Phogat and Punia said they would continue the fight against Singh, with the former saying she would ensure that no woman faces what she had to endure.

The 30-year-old, who is a two-time world championship medallist besides an Asian Games gold medallist, will contest from Julana constituency in the Haryana assembly elections scheduled for next month.

She recently made headlines for reaching the Olympic final only to be disqualified on the day of the summit bout for being 100 grams overweight.

Predictably, Singh dismissed his claims with disdain.

“What happened to her? The incident she claims took place at a time when I was in Lucknow. Time will tell the truth,” he said.

Punia, on the other hand, was appointed as the working president of the All India Kisan Congress.

Malik, however, has avoided entering politics, saying she would continue the agitation without aligning herself with any party even if she was offered to do so.

However, the Rio Games star, who quit the sport after Sanjay Singh was elected WFI chief, offered his best wishes to both the grapplers, calling their decision a personal choice.

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