New Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS): A day after former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar remarked that the 2023 wrestlers' protest was "politically motivated” after grapplers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, senior party leader Birender Singh defended the athletes, emphasising there was no prohibition on sportspersons entering politics.

The former Union Minister criticised the Wrestling Federation of India's former president Brij Bhushan Singh, calling him "most deceitful," and highlighted that ongoing legal cases against him suggest misconduct.

Birender Singh, while responding to Manohar Lal Khattar, said, "The real face has emerged because the most deceitful president of the Wrestling Federation of India is still facing legal cases. This indicates that there was some wrongdoing."

Addressing Manohar Lal Khattar's statement that the 2023 wrestlers' protest was "politically motivated," Birender Singh defended the athletes and said, "There is no prohibition on sportspeople entering politics.”

He added that the Congress had previously welcomed talented athletes like shooter Rao Inderjit’s daughter and encouraged young talents like Phogat and Punia to participate in politics.

"If the Congress wants to connect with young, talented individuals like them and they are willing to join, there is no harm in that", he added.

Wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Poonia, both from Haryana, met the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

The meeting comes amid heightened speculation of wrestler Vinesh Phogat making her debut in the Haryana Assembly elections on a Congress ticket.

The meeting also assumes significance because the Congress party is understood to be giving last-minute touches to the list of candidates for the poll-bound state.

Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar's remarks came following this meeting.

He claimed, reacting to the wrestlers' protest, that it was all part of a political strategy, saying, “Athletes got trapped in a political maze.”