At U.P. rally WFI chief Brij Bhushan avoids reference to wrestlers' row; slams Congress for Emergency, anti-Sikh riots

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh did not refer to the protests against him, top wrestlers of the country, including Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, have accused him of sexually harassing women grappler

BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on June 11 attacked the Congress over the Emergency of 1975 and the anti-Sikhs riots of 1984 at a public meeting, skipping any reference to the wrestlers' protest and sexual harassment allegations against him.

The Kaisarganj MP was addressing a rally here in Balpur to mark the nine years of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre. Singh's 23-minute speech began with an Urdu couplet and ended with a 'chaupaai' of the Ram Charit Manas.

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"In 1947, the country got divided when the Congress was in power. The wounds of the Partition had not even got healed when Pakistan attacked and they grabbed 78,000 square kilometres of land, while the Congress was in power," Singh said.

"In 1962, when the Congress was in power, China attacked [us] and grabbed 33,000 square kilometres of land. In 1971 [India-Pakistan war], an unprecedented 92,000 [Pakistani] soldiers were made prisoners of war by the Indian Army. Still, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi freed them without settling the old score," he added.

"Had there been a Prime Minister like [Narendra] Modi then in the country, the land that was grabbed would have been freed," the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India president said.

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