Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia were used by Congress as pawns: Brij Bhushan Singh

Gonda: Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were used by the Congress as "pawns" in their "conspiracy" to take control of the Wrestling Federation of India and attack the BJP, former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said on Saturday.

A day after Olympians Phogat and Punia joined the Congress, the senior BJP leader said that he had defeated Congress' Deepender Hooda in the 2012 election for the WFI which is why they nursed a grudge against him.

Asked about Phogat and Punia, the two prominent faces of the protest against Singh over charges of sexual harassment, he said, "They were faces... they were mohrey (pawns). They were used like pawns by (former Haryana chief minister) Bhupinder Hooda, the Congress and the Congress family." "This was all conspired to gain a hold on the Wrestling Federation of India and to attack the BJP and its ideology...This team of Rahul, the Congress keeps doing this thing," he told PTI Videos.

When asked about Vinesh Phogat's assertions that no woman should have to face what she had to, Singh said, "What happened with her? The incident that she alleges happened at a time when I was in Lucknow. Time will tell the truth."

Phogat has been fielded by the Congress from Julana assembly seat in Haryana, while Punia has been made the working chairman of the All India Kisan Congress.