Recalling the protests against him, Singh accused the Congress of using the wrestlers as its pawn in the name of ensuring justice to them.”In the name of justice, the Congress leaders joined the wrestlers’ protest. In this country, the Congress party and some of the wrestlers together ensured the decline and decimation of wrestling,” the BJP leader claimed.Singh further claimed that wrestling had little stature or recognition under the Congress regime and that wrestlers only began winning medals after he took over the WFI. “After I took over as WFI chief, people started recognising the wrestlers who were bringing medals for the country,” he said. “After joining the Congress, they have shown their true colours, and people know their reality. They are being condemned from various sections of people. No one will stand with them in Haryana,” Singh added.The BJP leader also claimed that the protests against him were a tool used by Congress to end his political career. He added that when the Congress party could not stop him, it turned to using the wrestlers against him.”I have been suffering from false allegations for the last two years. However, now I get more time to be among the people than what I used to get as a parliamentarian,” Brij Bhushan said.In 2023, Punia and Phogat, along with fellow Olympian Sakshi Malik, spearheaded the wrestlers’ protest against alleged sexual harassment of women grapplers by Singh, the then Wrestling Federation of India chief.The Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet in the case against Singh on June 15, 2023, under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.The FIRs narrate several alleged instances of sexual harassment, like inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by Singh at different times and places over a decade.After the allegations made by the women wrestlers, the BJP did not give Singh a ticket from Kaiserganj and made his son Karan Bhushan Singh the candidate. Karan won the Lok Sabha polls by a margin of over 1.48 lakh votes, defeating SP’s Bhagat Ram.
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