WFI Chief Election Controversy: Bajrang Punia returns Padma Shri Award

Guwahati: Ace wrestler and Tokyo Olympics medalist Bajrang Punia on Friday announced that he is returning his Padma Shri award in protest over the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief election.

“I am returning my Padmashree award to the Prime Minister. This is just my letter to say. This is my statement,” read the post shared by the wrestler on X.

Punia was not allowed to enter Kartavya Path in Delhi to return his Padma Shri. Punia then left his award on the footpath.

In his letter, Punia said that despite being conferred various honours for his achievements in the sport, he could do nothing to keep the sport safe for his fellow female wrestlers. Living life as an “honoured” athlete would hurt him, Punia added.

On Thursday Sakshi Malik said that she is quitting wrestling over Sanjay Singh, a close aide of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, been appointed as the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Sanjay Singh defeated former Commonwealth Games gold medalist Anita Sheoran by 40 votes to 7 in the much-awaited WFI elections, which were held in New Delhi on Thursday (December 21).

Following this development, Rio Olympics bronze medalist Sakshi Malik, in an emotional address to the media, said that she was going to quit wrestling.

She expressed her disappointment over Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, getting elected as WFI president.

Sakshi said that Sanjay Singh, who served as the vice-president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation, was the right-hand man of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

“We slept for 40 days on the roads and a lot of people from several parts of the country came to support us. If Brij Bhushan Singh’s business partner and a close aide is elected as the president of WFI, I quit wrestling,” she said.

“We gathered a lot of courage for this fight against the WFI President (Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh). But today, his right hand (referring to Sanjay Singh) has been elected as the new WFI President. We had demanded a woman be made the president, but that has not been fulfilled,” she added.