Bajrang Punia returns Padma Shri after Sanjay Singh's election as WFI President stirs drama

Olympic medalist Bajrang Punia has declared his intention to return the Padma Shri award in protest against the election of Sanjay Singh, a loyalist of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, as the president of the Wrestling Federation of India. Bajrang expressed his dissent in a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he highlighted the denial of justice to female wrestlers as the primary motivation behind his decision to relinquish the prestigious award.

"I am returning my Padma Shri award to the Prime Minister. This is a letter to say that," Bajrang Punia wrote on X.

"Dear Prime Minister ji, hope your health is well. You must be busy in many work but I am writing this to draw your attention to what is happening to the wrestlers of the country. You must be aware that the women wrestlers of the country started a protest in January this year against Brij Bhushan Singh, accusing him of sexual harassment. I too had joined their protest. The protest stopped after the government promised strong action," Punia wrote.

"But even after three months, there was no FIR against Brij Bhushan. So we took to the streets in April again so that the Delhi police would at least file an FIR against him. There were 19 complainants in January but the number came down to 7 by April. This means Brij Bhushan exerted his influence and forced the other 12 wrestlers to leave their protests."

Sanjay Singh secured victory in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections, defeating former Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran by a significant margin of 40 votes to 7.

 Following the election results, prominent wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, and Vinesh Phogat held a press conference. 

Sakshi Malik announced her decision to quit wrestling in protest, expressing her dissatisfaction with the election outcome, particularly the election of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's close aide as the WFI president. Sakshi emotionally conveyed her decision and left the venue, emphasizing her commitment to stepping away from the sport.

These elections, which were supposed to take place in June, control wrestling across the country. Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik met with Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur earlier this month in the national capital to discuss the WFI elections.

Top wrestlers from throughout the country organised a 5-month-long protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan, accusing him of sexually abusing female wrestlers.

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