WFI Elections 2023 | There has been a change in the dates of the wrestling association elections, now elections will be held on ‘this’ day; Maharashtra disqualified

PTI Photo New Delhi: The much-awaited Wrestling Federation of India (WFI Election 2023) elections will be held on August 12 in which the state of Maharashtra will not be part of the election process as returning officer Justice MM Kumar disqualified both the rival factions from participation. This announcement was made on Friday. The ad-hoc committee had earlier scheduled the elections for July 6, but was forced to reschedule the polls to July 11 after the respective state bodies of Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh approached for a hearing. The elections could not be held on July 11 as the Gauhati High Court had stayed the elections following a petition by the Assam Wrestling Association (AWA). Also read AWA had urged the right to representation in the election process. The Supreme Court on Tuesday cleared the way for the WFI elections by lifting the stay imposed by the Gauhati High Court on the elections. The electoral college will now have 48 members with voting rights from 24 state bodies. Nominations for the posts will be filed on August 1. The scrutiny of nominations will be done on August 2 and the final list of candidates will be published on August 7. If elections are required, the poll will be held on August 12. The Sports Ministry had ordered the WFI to suspend all its activities with immediate effect after WFI President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh appointed a committee to probe allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. He has got bail in this case. Brij Bhushan has completed 12 years as the president. He is disqualified to contest elections as per the guidelines of the Sports Code. It will be interesting to see whether his son Karan, who heads the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Federation, contests the election. (agency)