NEW DELHI: A day after Bajrang Punia gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi his Padma Shri Award back, gold medallist from the 2005 Summer Deaflympics Virender Singh Yadav declared he would follow suit in protest against Sanjay Singh, a close aide of Brij Bhushan Singh, being chosen to lead the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).
In 2021, Virender Singh Yadav, also known as Goonga Pehalwan, was bestowed with the esteemed Padma Shri Award. Prior to that, in 2015, he received the esteemed Arjuna Award.