Wrestlers protest: After Priyanka does her bit, Rahul makes a foray

New Delhi: Days after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Haryana Congress leaders met wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, Congress scion Rahul Gandhi Wednesday met wrestlers including Bajrang Punia at Virendra Akhada in Jhajjar, Haryana.

This vindicates an EXCLUSIVE report by NewsDrum in which the government sources said that the meeting was an apparent bid to revive the wrestlers' protest coinciding with the Ram Temple opening.

Upset with former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's camp winning WFI elections held on December 21, Rio Games bronze medallist Sakshi Malik quit the sport. 

On the next day, Friday, December 22, Priyanka Gandhi met Bajrang Punia who along with Deafylmpics champion Virender Singh Yadav returned the Padma Shri awards.

Sensing the trouble, Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the 'sleeping' Sports Ministry to crack down on WFI on Sunday.

However, Vadra's intention to incite the protesters became more clear on Monday when she posted a 'false news' accusing the centre of spreading "false news" about the suspension of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

On Tuesday, Vinesh Phogat decided to return her Khel Ratna and Arjuna award to the Prime Minister hinting that backed by Congress, the wrestlers are up in arms once again against the Modi government.

Commenting on the fresh build-up, a top government source told NewsDrum that the PM’s swift action sent a clear message to the country that he cares for the athletes.

"Vinesh Phogat's letter did not specify any certain demand. It appears that they are being instigated by the opposition to revive the protest and divert the attention of the country from the "pran pratishtha", or the consecration ceremony of the Ram Lalla idol," the source added.

NewsDrum had earlier reported that in the INDIA bloc meeting held on December 19 in New Delhi, CPI(M) leader Yechury and Tamil Nadu chief minister and DMK chief M K Stalin proposed an opposition campaign in villages in North India to counter any benefit accruing to BJP because of Ram Temple.

Yechury on Tuesday turned down the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony. 

While Rahul Gandhi is set to skip the ceremony as he embarks on the Bharat Nyay Yatra on January 14, Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge are likely to ignore the invitations and send the party representative instead.

When asked if the government has any answer to the impending wrestlers' protest amid the build-up around the Ram Temple opening, the source told NewsDrum that the country will witness the Congress' design and reject them given that the PM acted in the matter when he saw the Supreme Court-mandated elections of the WFI going wrong.