Sakshi Malik quits wrestling in protest after Brij Bhushan aid elected WFI chief

Sanjay Singh, UP Wrestling Association v-p, becomes new president

NEW DELHI: Shortly after Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh loyalist Sanjay Singh won the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) election for the top job, Rio Olympic bronze medallist Sakshi Malik put her wrestling shoes on the table and announced her retirement from the sport as a mark of protest.

A six-time BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had to step aside after top wrestlers accused him of sexually exploiting women wrestlers. The matter is in court.

Sanjay, who is UP Wrestling Association vice president and hails from Varanasi, became the new president with his panel winning 13 of the 15 posts in the elections. Singh won 40 out of 47 votes. Commonwealth Games gold medallist Anita Sheoran, the protesting wrestlers' choice for the post of WFI president, got just seven votes.

The panel of Sheoran though managed to win the key post of secretary general with Prem Chand Lochab, a former RSPB secretary, defeating Darshan Lal 27-19.

Devender Singh Kadian, who runs a chain of food joints on National Highways and is considered to be close to protesting wrestlers, claimed the senior vice president's post, beating I D Nanavati 32-15.

The victory of these two candidates from the Sheoran camp suggests that a compromise formula must have been worked out since Sanjay won by a huge margin while votes were split in the elections for these two posts.

The Brij Bhushan camp swept all the four Vice President posts with Delhi's Jai Prakash (37), West Bengal's Asit Kumar Saha (42), Punjab's Kartar Singh (44) and Manipur's N Phoni (38) winning the elections.

Uttarakhand's Satyapal Singh Deshwal, who is also from Brij Bhushan camp, is the new treasurer.

He beat Jammu and Kashmir's Dushyant Sharma 34-12.

All five executive committee members were also from the outgoing chief's camp.