CHENNAI: Less than two months after former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh distanced himself from wrestling due to a massive protest against him, his son Karan Bhushan Singh was unanimously elected as the president of Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association on Sunday. Karan replaced his father for the top post.
Like the WFI, Brij Bhushan, who is also a member of parliament from BJP, has already served three tenures as the UP association president and was ineligible to contest as per the National Sports Development Code. Karan was senior vice president in the previous regime.
Returning officer retired Justice Anil Kumar Singh announced the results of the election held in Nandini Nagar, Gonda, which is considered the bastion of the UP strongman Brij Bhushan. Incumbent WFI president Sanjay Kumar Singh was elected to the post of senior vice president while Suresh Chandra Upadhyay, who is employed with the Indian Railways, was elected as the general secretary. Sanjay Kumar served as a vice president while Upadhyay was joint secretary in the last executive committee. Akhand Vir Singh became the treasurer. Apart from these office-bearers, five vice presidents, as many executive committee members and two joint secretaries were also elected unopposed.
Satya Pal Deshwal, WFI treasurer, was an observer from the national sports federation while Parmendra Singh was an observer from the Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association for the elections. With the country's top wrestlers launching a protest against Brij Bhushan, the government in the past assured them that neither he nor his relatives would contest the WFI elections. It eventually led to the election of Sanjay Singh, considered a close associate of Brij Bhushan, to the top post.
However, the sports ministry abstained newly-elected WFI from functioning soon after the election and formed an ad-hoc committee to manage the day-to-day affairs of the federation. "Brij Bhushan as a former president was present during the elections, which were held according to the Rule (16) of Model Election Guidelines of the National Sports Development Code. As he (Brij Bhushan) announced in the past, he has distanced himself from wrestling completely," said a source in the know of things.
Meanwhile, the general secretary affirmed that the new dispensation will ensure the state contributes handsomely to the development of the sport in the country. "UP has always produced good wrestlers in the past and we will make sure that it keeps doing so in the future as well," Upadhyay told this daily.
Newly-elected office-bearers and executive committee members
President: Karan Bhushan Singh; Senior vice president: Sanjay Kumar Singh; Vice presidents: Shankar Yadav, Jay Prakash Sharma, Sushil Rajput, Aditya Pratap Singh, Anand Dev Upadhyay; General secretary: Suresh Chandra Upadhyay; Joint secretary: Chander Vijay Singh, Chattar Singh; treasurer: Akhand Vir Singh; Executive members: Vinay Sahi, Raj Kumar Mishra, Vikrant Upadhyay, Bharti Baghel, Divyansh Tyagi.