AAP lambasts BJP over treatment meted out to wrestlers

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday hit out at the BJP-led Centre over the treatment meted out to the wrestlers, who had levelled allegations of sexual harassment against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Addressing a press conference, AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak said that he was very sad after watching the media briefing of the wrestlers on Thursday.

"On Thursday, the whole country saw that our wrestlers, who brought glory to our nation, had tears in their eyes and pain in their chests while speaking to the media. Some of them have also said that they will quit wrestling," he said.

Pathak said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was standing with the wrestlers when they won medals but deserted them in times of distress.

"When they win medals, the entire BJP puts their hoardings and tries to show that it was because of the efforts of the Centre that they won medals but when they were struggling, no one stands with them," he alleged.

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh, who hails from Varanasi, was on Thursday elected as president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with his panel comfortably winning 13 of the 15 posts in the much-delayed polls.

This development triggered outrage among the protesting wrestlers and Sakshi Malik announced her retirement from the sport.

Malik along with Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had launched an agitation against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh 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.

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