Wrestling Federation election: Madhya Pradesh’s new CM Mohan Yadav gets only 5 votes, loses bout for post of VP

An avid wrestler and chief of the Madhya Pradesh Wrestling Association, Yadav was among those who lost in the WFI polls in New Delhi, which saw Uttar Pradesh’s Sanjay Singh getting elected as the new president.

Wrestling Federation election, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, WFI elections, Sanjay Singh, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Wrestling Federation of India, Wrestler protests, Wrestlers India, Indian Express sports news

CM Mohan Yadav filed nomination in July, before MP polls. (PTI)

He might have been chosen as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh but Mohan Yadav’s ambition to become an office-bearer of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) did not come to fruition Thursday.

An avid wrestler and chief of the Madhya Pradesh Wrestling Association, Yadav was among those who lost in the WFI polls in New Delhi, which saw Uttar Pradesh’s Sanjay Singh getting elected as the new president.

Yadav, who did not turn up on the voting day, was contesting for the post of vice-president. However, he could secure only five votes as candidates supported by former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh – Delhi’s Jai Prakash (37 votes), West Bengal’s Asit Kumar Saha (42), Punjab’s Kartar Singh (44) and Manipur’s N Phoni (38) – won by huge margins in elections to the posts they contested.

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Yadav filed his nomination for the post in July, much before the Assembly elections in MP. At that point, the WFI elections were slated to take place in August until they were stayed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Yadav’s loss wasn’t the only major talking point of the polls. While Brij Bhushan’s aides did win a majority of seats, elections to two positions defied the overall voting pattern.

Brij Bhushan aide elected WFI chief, Sakshi quits wrestling

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik at the press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

A businessman from UP, Sanjay Singh became the president by defeating former CWG gold medallist Anita Sheoran 40-7, but the tables turned for the post of senior vice-president.

Devender Singh Kadian, who runs a chain of food joints and is considered to be close to protesting wrestlers Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, claimed the senior vice-president’s post, beating I D Nanavati 32-15.

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READ | Vinesh Phogat on Sanjay Singh’s WFI chief elections win: ‘This is Brij Bhushan’s right-hand man, khud ke bete se bhi zyada khaas!’

Nanavati, a veteran administrator, is a long-time supporter of Brij Bhushan and has served in different capacities in the previous administration headed by the BJP MP.

Similarly, for the post of secretary-general, one of the most important roles within a federation, Prem Chand Lochab, secretary of Railway Sports Promotion Board, defeated Darshan Lal, the candidate from Chandigarh.

However, there was a tug-of-war over his allegiance as well. Lochab was seen as a candidate representing the faction headed by Sheoran, which also had the backing of the protesting wrestlers.

But after the results were declared, Brij Bhushan was quoted saying: “The entire panel is ours. Whoever has won, has won from our votes.”

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Asked if he found himself in a fix over this, Lochab told The Indian Express: “It’s not that I am in a fix. When you have to run an organisation, you have to take everyone on board. If we take any one person’s point of view, then the situation will get complex. So we have to take everyone’s view and move in the direction which is the best.”