'Daughters of India have lost,' posts Sakshi Malik after Brij Bhushan's son gets LS ticket

Olympic medalist Sakshi Malik has posted an emotional note in response to the BJP granting a Lok Sabha ticket to the son of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers.

On Thursday, the BJP announced Karan Bhushan as its candidate from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh replacing his father Brij Bhushan, the tainted former president of the Wrestling Federation of India.

"Daughters of the nation have lost, Brij Bhushan has won," Sakshi posted on X, also called Twitter. She has tagged fellow wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia, who together protested for months at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi accusing Brij Bhushan of molesting, stalking, intimidating and demanding sexual favours from women wrestlers.

"We put our careers on the line, and slept on the roads in rain and shine, but Brij Bhushan has not been arrested yet. We were just asking for justice.

"Forget arrest, by granting a ticket to his son, the morale of crores of daughters of the nation have been crushed. The ticket is going back to his family. Is the government so weak in front of just one man?" Sakshi posted.

She summed up her note by taunting the BJP, the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "They only want votes in the name of Lord Ram, but what about the path shown by him?" The idea of Ram Rajya refers to a rule of righteousness.

Punia, meanwhile, has launched a direct attack on PM Modi's party. "BJP considers itself the biggest party in the world but out of its lakhs of workers, it gave ticket to Brij Bhushan's son, that too when BJP is surrounded by the issue of Prajwal Revanna.

"During the agitations in Punjab and Haryana, people here raise a slogan, “Don't expect anything from governments, take care of yourself.”

"It is the misfortune of the country that daughters who win medals will be dragged on the streets and the son of the person who sexually exploits them will be honored by giving him a ticket."

Last December, Sakshi, who won bronze in the Rio Olympics, announced her retirement in protest of Brij Bhushan loyalist, Sanjay Singh's elevation to the WFI president's post. Punia registered his protest by leaving his Padma Shri award outside the residence of Prime Minister Modi.