Hyderabad (Telangana): With Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra meeting the agitating wrestlers and accusing the central government of shielding Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) chief Brij Bhusan Saran Singh and the BJP MLA’s flocking the residence of Singh substantially suggest that the issue of the aggrieved wrestlers and their rare show of demonstration is slowly turning into the political gambit which in turn might take the real steam out of the grapplers movement.
On Saturday morning, Congress leader Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra met the wrestlers at Jantar Mantar to express her solidarity. Speaking on the occasion, the Congress leader said, “There are serious allegations against this person, he should first resign and be removed from the post. Till he is in that post, he will continue to exert pressure and keep destroying people's careers."
Accusing the central government of protecting Singh, the senior Congress leader said, "If that person is there on a post through which he can destroy the careers of wrestlers and exert pressure, then what is the meaning of FIRs and investigation.”.
"I don't have any expectations from the prime minister, because if he had been concerned about these wrestlers, then he would have at least called them and spoken with them. He had called them for tea when they won medals. So call them, talk to them, they are our girls," she added.
Not only Congress but several opposition parties have come out in open support of the wrestlers. CPI(M) politburo leader Brinda Karat met the wrestlers four days before to express her solidarity. Supports also came out from Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart.
Taking to tweet, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote - “We must all stand with the wrestlers who are protesting. They are speaking in one voice. Our sportspersons are the pride of our nation. They are champions. The guilty must be brought to book, irrespective of their political affiliation. Justice must prevail. Truth must win," Banerjee had tweeted.
As a result, BJP stood firmly behind their MP making out an obvious statement that they are not going to budge against this collective opposition – political or otherwise. Immediately after Priyanaka Gandhi Vadra met the aggrieved wrestlers, several BJP MLAs – in a show of strength- reached Singh’s residence at Gonda. Labelling all the allegations as ‘baseless’, the BJP legislators alleged that it was ploy of ‘some industrialists’ and ‘Congress’ against BJP.
"This isn't a protest by wrestlers. It's a pre-planned event," Ajay Pratap Singh, MLA from the Colonelganj constituency in Gonda, said. Not only Singh but Balrampur MLA Palturam, who was also present at Mr Singh's residence, said Congress was conspiring to malign Brij Bhushan Singh's political reputation.
"It's a political conspiracy by the Congress to destroy the MP's image, but they won't be successful. The common people are with him (Brij Bhushan Singh), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath," he said.
One thing is certain that when the Supreme Court also observed that the charges of ‘sexual harassment’ against a minor is ‘very serious’ in nature, the saffron brigade’s coming out in open support of Singh might have political impact in future but how much it would help the wrestlers in getting their deserved justice is still lost in the maze.
