Birj Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh becomes new Wrestling Federation of India president

Sanjay Singh elected Wrestling Federation of India president, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh camp wins 13 of 15 posts, paving way for lifting UWW ban on WFI.

Sanjay Singh on Thursday became the new president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) with his panel comfortably winning most of the posts in the delayed polls as outgoing chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh gained indirect control over the sports body.

Sanjay, who is a Brij Bhushan loyalist and U.P. Wrestling Association vice president, secured 40 votes as against seven that his rival Anita Sheoran got.

RSS-affiliate Sanjay hails from Varanasi and is a very close associate of Brij Bhushan. Given the tremendous interest the outgoing chief has in the sport, it is expected that Sanjay will consult him in policy decisions.

"It's triumph for thousands of wrestlers in the country who suffered in the past 7-8 months," Sanjay Singh told reporters after his huge win.

The panel of Sheoran, a CWG gold medallist, though managed to win the key post of secretary general as Prem Chand Lochab, a former RSPB secretary, beat 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 Brij Bhushan camp won 13 of the 15 posts. It swept all the four posts of vice presidents 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.