Wrestling Federation of India elections on July 6, says returning officer Mahesh Mittal Kumar

The last date for receiving the two nominations from each unit is June 19 and the scrutiny will be completed by June 22.constituting electoral college'.

India's top wrestlers have been demanding the arrest of the WFI chief, accusing him of sexually exploiting several women grapplers, including a minor. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

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The Wrestling Federation of India elections will be held on July 6, the returning officer announced via a notification on Tuesday. The results will be announced on the same day. This comes a day after the Indian Olympic Association appointed retired Jammu and Kashmir high court judge Mahesh Mittal Kumar as returning officer.

Each state and union territory can forward two nominations and each representative will have a vote. The last date for receiving the two nominations from each unit is June 19 and the scrutiny will be completed by June 22. Scrutiny of nomination papers by the returning officer will be done by June 28. Polling will be held from 11 am to 1:20 pm on July 6 and counting will start at 1:30 pm.

The elections are significant because sports minister Anurag Thakur had promised the protesting wrestlers that no family member of outgoing president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh will be allowed to contest the polls. Some of India’s top wrestlers, including Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been demanding the arrest of Brij Bhushan, who has been accused of sexual harassment. Only after assurances from the sports minister, including the promise of a chargesheet by June 15, did the wrestlers put their protest on hold.

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Brij Bhushan’s son Karan was vice-president in the previous WFI set-up and is also associated with the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. His son-in-law Vishal Singh is the president of the Bihar Wrestling Association.

Having completed 12 years as WFI president, Singh is not in the fray for another term because of the tenure cap imposed by the National Sports Code.

“Former president Singh, who has completed three terms, and those close to him, should not be elected, the wrestlers had demanded,” Thakur had said after a meeting with the protesting wrestlers last week.

The government had also assured the protesting wrestlers — Bajrang, Sakshi and world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat – that their opinion would be considered in deciding who occupies the key posts of president, general secretary and treasurer.

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Elections will be held for 15 posts — one president, one senior vice-president, four vice-presidents, one secretary general, one treasurer, two joint secretaries and five executive committee members.

The candidates will be able to withdraw their nominations between June 28 and July 1, following which the final list of the contesting candidates will be put up on July 2.

In his notification issued on Tuesday, the returning officer wrote, “Whereas the last date of receiving two nominations from each State/UT for constituting the electoral college has been fixed as 5.00 p.m of 19th June, 2023, all the recognised Wrestling Federations of the states/UTs under the ratified constitution of the WFI and the guidelines of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Govt. of India, are hereby called upon to nominate two (2) persons each of the respective associations who are the members of the executive body of such State/UT Units, for the purpose of constituting the electoral college for the ensuing general election to elect members of the Executing Committee.”

One of the tasks for the returning officer will be to decide which rival faction will be allowed to participate in the polls from states like Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka.