Vinesh Phogat playing role of Manthara: WFI Chief Brij Bhushan Singh

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of sexual harassment by seven women wrestlers, on Tuesday sought to equate grappler Vinesh Phogat with Manthara, a character in the Hindu epic Ramayana.   

The Ramayana says Manthara, who was Queen Kaikeyi’s maid, convinced her the throne of Ayodhya belonged to her son Bharat and that her stepson and crown-prince Ram should be exiled from the kingdom.  “The role that Manthara-Kaikeyi played in the Treta Yug, similarly Vinesh Phogat is playing the role of Manthara for me,” Singh told a public meeting here.   

He added that earlier thousands of wrestlers were staging protests against him, but now only three husband-wife pairs are left. There is no seventh, he said. “The day the results are out, I will thank Manthara also.”    

The Delhi Police has registered two FIRs against Singh after he was accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers, and is probing the case.  “The wrestlers who were staging protests, they have not been able to tell till today, what happened with them, when, where, and how,” Singh said.