CHENNAI: With Monday being the last date to submit nominations for the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) election, the sidelined chief of the body Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh held a meeting with his loyalists at a five-star hotel in New Delhi on Sunday.
It is learnt that representatives from 21 state units attended the meeting and pledged their allegiance to Singh, a BJP member of parliament from Kaiserganj, Uttar Pradesh.
As per the WFI constitution, two representatives from a state unit are eligible to cast their votes. With 21 units backing him, the election should have been a cakewalk for Singh. However, the UP strongman preferred to play it safe by not revealing the nominations. Also because of the sensitive nature of this election with sexual harassment charges against Singh, things could be tricky.
If insiders are to be believed, Singh had met the Home Minister in this regard and is expected to meet him again. “Singh may meet home minister either at night or in the morning before his faction files the nominations for various posts at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Bhawan on Monday,” sources told this daily.
Sources also claimed that the other faction, which comprises six-seven voters who were included in the electoral college of late, also had a round of talks on Sunday. “They cannot be taken lightly as some of the names were accommodated after extending the deadline for nominations. They could figure as contestants for top positions,” said sources.