Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday made a surprise visit to a wrestling arena in Haryana, where he met star grappler Bajrang Punia amid intensifying protests by wrestlers against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
Gandhi reached the Virendra Arya Akhara wrestling facility in the Jhajjar district early morning and engaged with the wrestlers in their training routines. This included doing some wrestling exercises himself guided by the coaches.
His unannounced visit came even as wrestlers like Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, and Sakshi Malik have returned their prestigious awards including Padma Shri, Arjuna, and Khel Ratna to protest the recent WFI polls.
Bajrang and other wrestlers interacted with Gandhi for almost an hour, acquainting him about their ongoing agitation seeking systemic reforms in Indian wrestling.
Coach Virendra Arya said they were pleasantly surprised when the Congress MP landed up at 6:15 AM and mingled freely with the wrestlers like any other athlete. Gandhi displayed decent knowledge about sports in the conversations, he added.
However, the coach also remarked – “What could he (Gandhi) do, only the government can do something…Nationals will take place but what would be done with this issue at hand?”
The wrestlers have been demanding action over allegations of sexual harassment against WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and calling for his removal. Last month, his close aide Sanjay Singh won the WFI polls, triggering outrage and award wapsi by the aggrieved wrestlers.
Bajrang Punia had spearheaded the campaign against the WFI for several weeks at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar earlier this year. By meeting him, Gandhi has signaled his solidarity with the struggling athletes fighting injustice within the sports federations.
However, effecting real change can only be ensured by the central government stepping in, as per the coach’s comments. The drama surrounding Indian wrestling is far from over.
