Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 11: The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment by some women wrestlers, on Sunday heaped high praises on the prime minister Narendra Modi and the union home minister Amit Shah and asserted that he would again be contesting the 2024 Parliamentary elections from Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh.
Without making any direct reference to the on-going agitation by the country’s top wrestlers demanding his arrest, Singh, who had consistently denied of any wrong-doing, recited few lines of a poem to claim that he had got only betrayal and suffering in return for the love and affection he had shown to the wrestlers of the country.
It was Singh’s first public rally since the top wrestlers launched the agitation against him in January, which was suspended for some time after some assurances from the government, but resumed again on April 23 when their demand for suspension of Singh as the WFI chief remained unfulfilled. The top wrestlers have now stepped up their agitation demanding the arrest of Singh pointing out that no fair investigation into his conduct could be possible if he remained in the office.
Only on Saturday, the agitating wrestlers again alleged that Singh was trying to influence the police investigation against him and was threatening the complainants with dire consequences if they did not come to a compromise or withdraw the complaints against him. The central government, however, has so far failed to take any action against Singh excepting seeking time till June 15 when the union sports minister Anurag Thakur said the deadline given to the Delhi police to complete the inquiry against Singh and file a report in the court.
The police is learnt to have asked the complaining women wrestlers to produce pictures, videos or WhatsApp chats to support their allegations against Singh. India’s ace wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting against Mr Singh and demanding his arrest for allegedly sexually harassing seven women athletes.
Singh, a sitting BJP Member of Parliament from Kaiserganj, was addressing a BJP rally in Gonda in UP as part of the party’s “people’s contact” programme on the completion of nine years of the Modi government. He expressed the confidence that the BJP would return to power after the 2024 elections with a humping majority and that “no power in the world can stop the BJP for retaining power.”
Singh chose to target the Congress over the Emergency, Ram temple, the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots and other issues. He said was occupied during Congress rule, but had a powerful prime minister like Modi been at the helm of affairs then India could have got the occupied lands freed. “During the Congress era, 78,000 square kilometres of India’s land was captured by Pakistan when Jawahar Lal Nehru was the PM. China attacked India in 1962 and still holds 33,000 square kilometres of Indian land. In 1972, 92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war (POW) were captured by India. That was an opportunity to get back the land captured by Pakistan (in exchange for POW). If there was a strong PM instead of Congress, if there was PM Modi, he would have definitely got it back,” he said.
Brij Bhushan Singh then further heaped praise on Modi, praising him for his Kashmir decision, building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and working on the rapid progress in building roads, medical colleges, universities, and indigenous defence manufacturing. He ended his speech with chants of “Bharat Mata ki Jai” and a ‘chaupaai’ of the Ram Charit Manas.
Singh has remained defiant despite facing possible action from Delhi Police, which has recorded statements of over 200 people in connection with the case against him. Singh also attacked the Congress for imposing the Emergency in the country in 1975. “The Congress got Sikhs massacred in 1984 in the anti-Sikh riots,” he added.
Showering praises on Modi and Amit Shah Singh said, “Earlier, we used to say ‘Jahaan Balidaan [Syama Prasad)] Mukherjee Huye, Woh Kashmir Hamara Hai’ [the Kashmir where Syama Prasad Mukherjee attained martyrdom is ours]. We proudly repeat this today, and it has been possible because of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.”
Apparently referring to former Congress leader Kapil Sibal’s 2017 pitch for deferment of hearing of the Ayodhya title suit till after the 2019 general elections, Singh said, “The Congress posed hurdles and obstructions by fielding a lawyer so that any decision on the Ram Temple would not come in time. It made the Supreme Court work even during midnight to save a convicted terrorist from capital punishment.” He also referred to the Congress demanding proof of the Indian Army’s surgical strikes on terror camps following attacks in Uri and Pulwama and questioning the anti-COVID vaccine manufactured by scientists in India.
Higher Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mohan Yadav said, “The double-engine government of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath is working very well. Whosoever has done wrong has been reduced to dust.” Yadav also termed the Agnipath scheme a “milestone in the country’s development”, and said, “After completing the service period of the Agnipath scheme, our youngsters can become doctors, engineers and officers, and the discipline inculcated in them during the training will help them to move ahead.” He also listed the achievements during the nine years of the Modi government.
“When Modiji was the chief minister of Gujarat, he was denied a visa to the US. But now, every president wants to meet him. Not just the US but every nation wants to have a good relationship with India,” he said.