The Bharatiya Janata Party has asked former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh not to make any controversial comments on top wrestlers who joined the Congress ahead of the Haryana Assembly elections, a report said on Sunday.
Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who were at the forefront of the protests against Brij Bhushan who is facing sexual harassment allegations by some of the top athletes, joined the grand old party on Friday.
Referring to this, Brij Bhushan, a senior BJP leader, said on Saturday that the wrestlers were used by the Congress as "pawns" in a "conspiracy" to take control of the Wrestling Federation of India and attack the BJP.
However, the saffron party does not want to see any new narrative linked to the wrestlers' protest, the NDTV quoted sources as saying.
The wrestlers protest had garnered huge support in Haryana, a state that sends a large number of sportspersons to national teams.
READ: 'Pain of not getting medal...': Vinesh Phogat claps back after Brij Bhushan's 'cheating' jibe
The Congress has fielded Phogat from Julana constituency in the assembly polls scheduled next month. Punia, meanwhile, has been made working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.
Brij Bhushan, in his latest comments, alleged that former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was behind the plot 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 like pawns by (former Haryana chief minister) Bhupinder Hooda, the Congress, and the Congress family," he told news agency PTI.
VIDEO | Haryana Elections: "Whatever I have won in wrestling, it was because of people. Hopefully, I will be successful in this as well. I will talk about the wrestlers' protest at Jantar Mantar later, BJP had allowed us to sit there. Brij Bhushan is not the country, people are… pic.twitter.com/5YDaGwStfT
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 8, 2024
Hitting back at the former WFI chief, Phogat said “Brij Bhushan had never existed for her” and that she has the support of the people of the country.
Brij Bhushan, a six-time MP from Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj constituency, had to step down from the position of WFI chief following the protests, and he is also facing criminal charges in the court.
