Rare bonhomie: BJP's Brij Bhushan praises Akhilesh on wrestler protest

"I want to thank the leader of Samajwadi party, Akhilesh Yadav, (for not siding with the protesting wrestlers). I know him since his childhood. I am elder to him. Though there are political differences between us, Akhilesh knows the truth."

Gonda (UP): Embattled chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a BJP MP, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has praised Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav for not supporting the ongoing protest by top wrestlers in the country. Singh has been accused of sexual harassment by seven women wrestlers who have demanded his ouster from the WFI and the registration of an FIR against him. However, Singh has remained defiant and has refused to step down from his post.

Singh's comments came after the Delhi Police registered two FIRs against him on allegations of sexual harassment, including one under the POCSO Act. Various political parties, including the Congress and AAP, have supported the protesting wrestlers. However, Singh accused them of using the wrestlers as "toys" for political gain and claimed that their motive was not his resignation but political power.

Singh thanked Yadav for not associating himself with the protest and said that he knew the truth. He added that if there were 10,000 wrestlers in Uttar Pradesh, 8,000 of them belonged to the Yadav community and were associated with the Samajwadi Party. Singh said that the protesters were mere "toys" in the hands of the Opposition.

"I want to thank the leader of the Samajwadi party, Akhilesh Yadav, (for not siding with the protesting wrestlers). I know him since his childhood. I am elder to him. Though there are political differences between us, Akhilesh knows the truth." "... if there are 10,000 wrestlers in UP, out of them, 8,000 are from the Yadav community and they belong to the Samajwadi family, and hence know the truth," he said.

Various political parties, including the Congress, AAP and others, have lent their support to the protesting wrestlers. The Delhi Police had on Friday registered two FIRs against Singh on allegations of sexual harassment levelled by seven women wrestlers. While the first FIR pertained to allegations of a minor wrestler and was registered under the POCSO Act, the second was related to outraging modesty.

Singh, however, said that he was ready to resign if it would make the protesters go back home and sleep peacefully. He also criticized the players associated with railways who were sitting at the protest site in Delhi's Jantar Mantar and wondered why the railway board was not stopping them.

The protesting wrestlers had warned against using their platform for political gains and claimed that few people were trying to take their fight for justice in a different direction. They had also demanded Singh's ouster from the WFI and registration of an FIR against him.

Earlier in the day, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said the wrestlers staging the protest were facing the predicament of a defiant accused and "no arrests", and wondered whether there is a "pliant investigation" into the matter. Sibal, a senior advocate, is representing the wrestlers in the Supreme Court. In a tweet, he said: "Protesting Wrestlers Predicament: A minor, 6 others traumatised, a defiant accused, a silent PMO, no arrests. A pliant investigation?"

The wrestlers who have brought laurels for the country from international competitions have been protesting at Jantar Mantar, demanding that the government make public the findings of an oversight panel that investigated the sexual harassment charges against Singh. The wrestlers have asserted that they will not leave the protest site until Singh is arrested. They resumed their sit-in last Sunday and demanded that the findings of the panel that probed the allegations be made public.