Olympian Vinesh Phogat has broken the silence over former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's 'cheating' remarks, saying "the pain of not getting a medal had lessened as I arrived at the airport in India."
Addressing his allegations, she said, "Brij Bhushan is not the country, people are standing with me, they are my own... Brij Bhushan never existed for me." This comes after Phogat and fellow wrestler Bajrang Punia joined the Congress ahead of the Haryana assembly polls.
Phogat said whatever she has won in wrestling was because of the people. Referring to her candidature in the upcoming Haryana elections, the wrestler said, "Hopefully, I will be successful in this as well."
Bhushan, the ex-WFI chief, had accused Phogat of "cheating" in Paris Olympics. He said, "Is it not true that Bajrang went to the Asian Games without trials? I want to ask who are experts in wrestling. I want to ask Vinesh Phogat whether a player can give trials in two weight categories in a day? Can the trials be stopped for five hours after the weigh-in? You did not win the wrestling, you went there by cheating. God has punished you for the same."
Earlier, the Congress slammed Bhushan over his remarks against Phogat, Supriya Shrinate saying, "God punished Brij Bhushan, he is not in the Parliament and Vinesh Phogat is about to win and become an MLA."
Shrinate was referring to BJP not giving ticket to Bhushan in the Lok Sabha elections over sexual allegations raised by six wrestlers.
Speaking to ANI, Shrinate said the allegations by six other girls still remain to this day and that he is still chargesheeted, pointing out that someone in public life should not say such things.
Calling Bhushan a blot on civil society, she said his remarks will ensure Congress victory in Haryana.