Picture Credit: Twitter
mso-line-height-alt:12pt;"> The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is currently enduring a storm with its top wrestlers currently protesting to remove the WFI C hief Brij Bhushan Singh. Amidst the chaos, the Indian Olympic Committee have announced that they will conduct the impending WFI elections on July 4. The elections will be conducted at the Special General Meeting of the WFI with former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Mahesh Mittal Kumar as the returning officer.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is said to have completed three tenures in office. WFI had earlier announced the election date to be May 7 but the Sports Ministry declared it "null and void" and appointed a two-member ad hoc committee consisting of Bhupender Singh Bajwa, an IOA executive council member, and Suma Shirur, an accomplished IOA sportsperson, to run the affairs of WFI. The United World Wrestling had sent a warning to hold the WFI elections within the 45-day deadline or face suspension.
IOA wrote in its letter to Justice Mittal Kumar, “Elections are required to be conducted in the SGM of the WFI called on 4 July and the schedule of the election will be required to be drawn accordingly. We look forward to your confirmation of acceptance and also the smooth conduct of elections of the WFI on July 4.”
According to sources, Justice Mittal Kumar can decide the date of the SGM and the elections on his own and it will be up to him to hold the polls on July 4 or a few days later. Meanwhile, the protesting wrestlers have held discussions with the Union Sports Minister, Anurag Thakur, and Union H ome M inister Amit Shah , who reportedly gave the wrestlers further assurances going forward, and suspended the protest. However, the wrestlers still demand that Brij Bhushan be arrested and put behind bars.
