Sakshi Malik alleges Babita Phogat had hidden agenda behind wrestlers' protest: 'She wanted to become WFI chief'

Sakshi Malik alleges Babita Phogat had hidden agenda behind wrestlers' protest

Olympic wrestler Sakshi Malik in an interview claimed that it was BJP member Babita Phogat, who motivated the wrestlers to start the protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The Rio Olympic bronze medallist also mentioned that Babita, one of the Phogat sisters, wanted to take Brij Bhusan's position as president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). Sakshi made the remarks during an interview with India Today.

During the interview, Sakshi claimed that Babita assembled wrestlers for a meeting and urged them to protest against WFI's alleged misconduct, including the claims of molestation against then chief Brij Bhusan.

“Babita Phogat approached us with the idea of protesting against Brij Bhushan Singh because she had her own agenda — she wanted to become the WFI president,” Sakshi was quoted as saying by India Today.

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She also debunked the rumours surrounding Congress of supporting the protest and stated that the permission to stage protest were secured with the assistance of two BJP leaders. “There are rumours that Congress supported our protest, but that’s false. In fact, two BJP leaders helped us secure permission to protest in Haryana - Babita Phogat and Tirath Rana,” she added.

During the interview, Sakshi also clarified that the protest was initiated at the suggestion of Babita, but it wasn't entirely influenced by her. "It's not that we blindly followed her, but we were aware that there were serious issues like sexual harassment and molestation within the federation. We believed that having a woman in charge, especially someone like Babita Phogat, who is also a sportsperson, would bring positive change. We trusted that she would understand our struggles. But we never anticipated that she would play such a big game with us," she said.

Sakshi, along with Bajrang Punia, a Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist, and Vinesh Phogat were at the forefront of the protest against Brij Bhushan. The protest ended after the wrestlers were manhandled by the authorities during their march towards the new Parliament Building on the day of its inauguration.

Ever since then a lot has happened outside the mat of wrestling with Bajrang and Vinesh joining the Congress party. Vinesh in fact contested the Haryana Assembly Elections from the Julana constituency, where she won. Bajrang, on the other hand, was made head of the party's national farmers' unit.

Before switching over to politics, Vinesh endured a major heartbreak at the Paris Olympics, where she was disqualified on the morning of her final bout in the 50-kg freestyle wrestling category due to overweight by 100 grams.