Babita Phogat wanted to replace Brij Bhushan as WFI chief, claims Sakshi Malik:

Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party leader’s narrative about wrestlers’ protest being politically motivated, Olympic wrestler Sakshi Malik reportedly claimed that it was the BJP leader Babita Phogat who urged wrestlers to protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh because “she had her own agenda to become WFI President,” reported India Today. 
In an interview with India Today’s senior journalist, the Olympic medallist claimed that Babita Phogat, who had fought elections in Haryana on BJP ticket, approached the wrestlers and urged them to protest against Brij Bhushan Singh. 
“Babita Phogat approached us with the idea of protesting against Brij Bhushan Singh because she had her own agenda — she wanted to become the WFI president,” India Today quoted the ace Indian grappler as saying. 
Sakshi Malik also rejected the claims that wrestlers’ protest was motivated by Congress and said that initially two BJP leaders, Babita Phogat and Tirath Rana, helped the wrestlers to get permission to protest in Haryana.
“There are rumours that Congress supported our protest, but that’s false. In fact, two BJP leaders helped us secure permission to protest in Haryana – Babita Phogat and Tirath Rana,” Malik told India Today on Monday.
Further strengthening her claim, Sakshi Malik also said that the protesting wrestlers were hopeful that Babita Phogat would continue to support their protest, but that didn’t happen. 
“We thought she would sit with us in the protest and raise her voice against the wrongdoing as a fellow wrestler,” India Today quoted Malik. 
Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia led the wrestler’s protest against then Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh demanding strict action against the BJP strongmen over accusations of sexual assault and harassment of female wrestlers.
This is not the first time when Sakshi Malik has targeted the former wrestler Babita Phogat for taking sides with the government and not supporting the protesting wrestlers. Last year, Sakshi Malik accused the wrestler turned BJP leader Babita Phogat of taking sides with the BJP government. Meanwhile, Phogat accused Sakshi Malik and other protesting wrestlers of acting like a “Congress puppet”.