Uttar Pradesh: Permission denied for Brij Bhushan's maha rally' in Ayodhya on June 5

Several top grapplers including Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have been protesting inaction against Brij Bhushan Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, accused of sexually abusing female grapplers.

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh): The Ayodhya district administration has denied permission to BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to hold a rally here on June 5, an official said on Friday. Several top grapplers including Olympians Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have been protesting inaction against Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, accused of sexually abusing female grapplers.

Circle Officer (Ayodhya) SP Gautam said in view of other programmes scheduled on the World Environment Day on June 5, the permission sought by BJP councillor Chamela Devi on behalf of Singh has been denied. Singh, in a Facebook post, said he has postponed the 'Jan Chetna Maharally' at the Ram Katha Park for "a few days" due to the ongoing police probe into the wrestlers' allegation against him.

Singh, who is a MP from Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh, has been saying that he would hang himself even if a single allegation against him was proven. He has termed the ongoing protest by the grapplers as an "emotional drama".

The wrestlers were evacuated from Jantar Mantar in the national capital, the site they were protesting from on Sunday. They were detained by Delhi Police and later released. They had even threatened to immerse their World Championship and Olympic medals in river Ganga in Haridwar, but refrained from the movie following intervention by farmer leader Naresh Tikait.

Meanwhile, farmer outfits held a ‘khap mahapanchayat’ in Soram village at Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh and a series of protests in Punjab and Haryana on Thursday, showing solidarity with the protesting wrestlers. At the congregation in Muzaffarnagar, Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait said they planned to meet President Droupadi Murmu and will hold another mahapanchayat in Haryana’s Kurukshetra on Friday to discuss the next steps in the agitation (With agency inputs).