Naming Congress Haryana MP Deepender Hooda among those behind the sexual harassment allegations against him, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh told The Indian Express that the BJP has not asked him for any clarifications on the matter, nor has he approached anyone in the party over it. The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP, who is facing protests seeking his resignation from top wrestlers of the country over the allegations, also blamed inter-camp rivalry for the controversy. On the reaction of the BJP to the allegations, Singh said the party has not asked him anything. “This is an allegation I myself have to face. My party does not need to come into the picture.” Acknowledging that he had received a notice from the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Singh said: “I have clarified everything they wanted me to. I have denied all the allegations." The six-time MP who has led the WFI for 10 years said he has called a meeting of the General Body of the federation, which has around 80 members, in Ayodhya on January 22, “where all these issues will be discussed” and a decision taken. According to Singh, an industrialist who is in the business of “naqli (adulterated) ghee” and Deepender Hooda were “behind all this campaign against me”. “If anyone was sexually harassed, those making the allegations must clarify who it was, and where and when it happened. Fact is that no one will tell you this because all the allegations are fake, just to tarnish my reputation.” Singh also claimed that the issue was a result of the long battle between Sushil Kumar and Narsingh Yadav wrestling camps and that it was because he had taken Yadav's side that the other side was attacking him. “This is a dirty game of my opponents. They might have thought that it would be easy to discredit me with these allegations and that my party too would not spare me. But everyone knows the background to these dirty tricks. Except Haryana and that too a certain family and certain akhadas, wrestlers across the country have faith in me, and that is why I am here. Let the General Body decide the future course of action.”
