WFI row: Day-long drama in Gonda ends with no answers

LUCKNOW/GONDA: A long day of speculation on Friday ended without any answer as Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh cancelled his much-anticipated press conference at his home turf Gonda after three postponements on Friday. However, he had made his intentions clear during a casual chat with mediapersons earlier in the day by claiming that 'his revelations would trigger a tsunami'.
Singh, who is also Kaiserganj MP, had announced to address a press conference in Gonda on Friday noon to put forward his side in the controversy storming the WFI for the past few days. However, after rescheduling the presser three times during the day, Singh’s son Prateek Bhushan, who is a BJP MLA from Gonda, said that the WFI president would issue a statement about the allegations on January 22 after the annual general meet of the federation.
Addressing the media, Prateek said, “I am here on behalf of my father and I would like to inform you all that we will issue a written statement only after the AGM of WFI on January 22. We want to discuss the issue with members from all across India and then take any decision. Whatever decision we will take, we will inform the press through a written statement.”
The reason for cancelling the presser after inviting media personnel and making them wait throughout the day was not clear. However, while attending the preparations for open national ranking tournament scheduled to take place at Nandini Nagar Sports Stadium in Gonda from Saturday, Singh responded to the queries of mediapersons briefly on Friday afternoon.
“I have not spoken to anybody in Delhi. No talks have happened with Amit Shah. Why shall I resign? I will hold a presser in the evening,” said Singh. Responding to a question about Olympian Vinesh Phogat's claim that if 'she starts revealing things a bhuchal (storm) will hound the federation', the BJP MP said that if he opened his mouth a tsunami would take over everything.