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Rahul Gandhi, after meeting wrestlers, has 'only one question' on WFI row
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made an "impromptu" visit to an 'akhara' in Haryana's Jhajjar district and met a group of wrestlers including Bajrang Punia.
Hours after meeting Olympic bronze medallist Bajrang Punia and other wrestlers at Jhajjar in Haryana, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday raked up the issue around the embattled wrestling federation.
Sharing photographs of his visit on social media, Gandhi wrote, “After years of hard work, patience and unmatched discipline, and shedding blood and sweat, a player brings a medal for his or her country.”
“There is only one question - if these players, the daughters of India, have to leave the fight in their arena and fight for their rights and justice on the streets, then who will encourage their children to choose this path?”
Gandhi was referring to the five-month-long protest of wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, led by Bajrang, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, accusing former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexually exploiting several women grapplers.
"These are innocent, straightforward and simple people from farmer families, let them serve the tricolour. With full honour and respect, let them make India proud," he added.
Gandhi reached the "Virender Akhara" in the Chhara village early in the morning where he interacted with Punia and other wrestlers. After Gandhi left, Punia told reporters that the Congress leader saw the daily routine of wrestlers at the Akhara and interacted with them.
To a question, he described Gandhi's visit as "impromptu" and said the wrestlers at the "akhara" were not aware about it.
"He reached the Akhara at 6.15 am. He asked us about our daily routine, saw how we do our exercises and he too did some exercises.
"We were happy that he has a lot of knowledge about wrestling and also knows some techniques," the wrestler told reporters.
Punia returned his Padma Shri on Friday in protest against the election of Brij Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh as Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president. The wrestlers had demanded that no close associate of Brij Bhushan should enter the WFI administration.
Following the election, Rio Olympics bronze medallist Sakshi Malik announced that she would quit the sport.
Vinesh Phogat, a two-time World Championship medal winner, on Tuesday announced that she would return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna award to the Prime Minister, saying such honours have become meaningless when wrestlers are struggling badly for justice.
