Brij Bhushan: On Sunday, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the BJP leader and former president of WFI, draws a rather inappropriate analogy between the Hooda family and the Pandavas of the great Hindu epic, Mahabharata. Brij Bhushan Singh suggested that like the Pandavas, who suffered forever after putting Draupadi’s honor at stake, similarly, the Hooda family would also suffer for jeopardizing the honor of women. The comparison, as reported by ANI, underlines Singh’s discontent over recent political developments relating to the Hooda family.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s Mahabharata Comparison
Former WFI President and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh says, “During the Mahabharata, the Pandavas had put Draupadi on stake and lost. The country has not forgiven the Pandavas for this till date. Similarly, the Hooda family will not be forgiven for the gamble they have played by putting the honour of our sisters and daughters at stake.”
Singh’s comments come on the back of ace wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia deciding to join the Congress party under Mallikarjun Kharge. While Phogat will contest from Julana in the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections, Singh’s attack is also in some degree related to Bajrang Punia’s recent act of solidarity with Phogat and Punia’s assurance of working within the Congress framework.
Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia’s Political Shift
Singh’s statement comes after his continued war of words with the wrestlers’ protest movement. On several occasions in the past, he indicated the protest at Jantar Mantar in January last year was politically motivated and orchestrated by Congress leaders like Bhupinder Hooda, Deepender Hooda, Priyanka Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi. Singh had claimed the Congress used the protest politically against him, a claim vehemently denied by the protesting wrestlers.
Bajrang Punia, however, countered the charges of political influence on their protests and made it crystal clear that demonstrations were not politically motivated; rather, they were demand-oriented. “In the initial stages of protest, politicians were kept away to avoid defaming their agitation,” he said. The debate continues as the political affiliations of prominent wrestlers become a focal point in the ongoing political landscape.