Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over wrestler Vinesh Phogat leaving her Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards in Delhi’s Kartavya Path, which was inaugurated by the PM, saying that the PM is the “guardian of the nation” and it hurts to see the “cruelty” on his part.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Gandhi wrote (in Hindi), “For every daughter of the country, self-respect comes first, any other medal or honour follows.”
On Saturday, multiple World Championship medallist Phogat returned her Khel Ratna and Arjuna awards, keeping them lying in the middle of Kartavya Path after Delhi Police stopped her from reaching the Prime Minister’s Office. They were later picked up by the Delhi Police.
Phogat, along with Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting against the election of Sanjay Singh, a close aide of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of allegedly sexually harassing female wrestlers. The panel led by Singh win 13 out of the 15 posts.
Phogat, on Tuesday, decided to return the two prestigious awards to the government, saying such honours have become “meaningless” at a time when wrestlers are struggling to get justice. She announced her decision in a letter to PM Modi.
Soon after Sanjay Singh was appointed the chief of the WFI, Sakshi Malik also announced that she quit wrestling.
The Sports Ministry later suspended the newly-elected panel for not following the provisions of its own constitution, and on Wednesday, acting on the directives of the Sports Ministry, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) constituted a three-member ad hoc committee to run the day-to-day affairs of the apex wrestling body.
Earlier, on Wednesday, amid the WFI row, Rahul Gandhi met wrestler Bajrang Punia during his visit to the Virendra Akhara in Haryana’s Jhajjar district and demonstrated Japanese martial art Jiu-Jitsu skills.
Training session with @RahulGandhi https://t.co/uDNHgiwlHM pic.twitter.com/wa02n7Ecbk
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) December 28, 2023
The meeting came few days after Bajrang returned his Padma Shri – the country’s fourth highest civilian award – on Friday, over election of Sanjay Singh.