New Delhi: Wrestler Anita Sheoran, who testified in the case of sexual harassment of women wrestlers against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has jumped into the election fray of the Wrestling Federation of India. Anita filed her nomination for the post of president on Monday, the last day of filing nominations for the elections to be held on August 12. Anita won the gold medal in the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. If Anita Sheoran wins the election for the post of President of the Wrestling Federation of India, then she will be the first woman to lead Indian wrestling. Women wrestlers have made the country proud in wrestling. But, when the decision-makers have always been men.
Anita Sheoran, 38, is the only woman in the 50-member list of voters and candidates for the WFI elections. He is likely to directly compete with two candidates from Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s camp for the post of president. President of Delhi Wrestling Association, Olympian Jai Prakash, and Sanjay Singh Bhola of Uttar Pradesh are also in the fray. Both these candidates have a years-old relationship with Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is involved in the sexual harassment case. The case against outgoing WFI president Brij Bhushan Singh is being heard in a Delhi court, which granted him bail a week ago.
The Brij Bhushan camp held a meeting in Delhi regarding the Wrestling Federation of India elections and after that, they claimed that they have the support of 20 out of 25 state federations in the elections.
Anita testified against Brijbhushan
Meanwhile, Anita Sheoran is leading the opposition panel in the elections and is understood to have the support of wrestlers opposed to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, whom the government had said would sit in top positions in the WFI. He will have the lead role. She was one of the corroborators of the sexual harassment allegations against Brij Bhushan.
In June, Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anita Sheoran told The Indian Express that one of the complainants had informed her about the incident. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh allegedly called the complainant to his hotel room and forced him to gag. However, Anita did not comment on this issue while filing her nomination.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is currently out on bail in the sexual harassment case. He has been debarred from contesting elections in this case. No member of his family will also be able to take part in the election. In June itself, the government assured wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, who were protesting against Brij Bhushan at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, that any member of Brij Bhushan’s family would be allowed to hold any post in the new WFI body. Will not be given. As a result, the names of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and his son Karan were not on the voter list for the election, and his son-in-law Vishal Singh would represent Bihar. But he has not entered the election.
