Kunjarani backs IWF, says Malleswari's statement is baseless

Double Asian Games bronze medalist lifter Kunjarani Devi has slammed Karnam Malleswari for her recent attack on the Indian Weightlifting Federation office bearers, saying the former's statement that IWF was being run by people who do not know the sport was "baseless".

Upset with the way the IWF was working, Sydney Olympics bronze-medallist Malleswari has reportedly resigned as vice-president of IWF recently.

"I strongly condemn the statement given by Karnam Malleswari against B P Baishya, president of Indian Weightlifting Federation and secretary general Sahdev Yadav," Kunjarani said in a statement on New Delhi.

"I firmly believe that we the sportsperson have a larger responsibility on our shoulders not only to promote the game and make it popular with the new generation but also to chalk out the dirty politics from the game and put aside our ego and petty temptations."

"Why she is sponsoring such malicious politics  I really don't know. But the statement is absolutely baseless regarding knowledge of weightlifting by the elite leaders of Indian Weightlifting Federation. They are well aware of each and every aspect of weightlifting," she added.

In her criticism, Malleswari, country's first woman to win an Olympic medal, also complained of politics in IWF and felt that the performance of the lifters had gone down considerably under the current regime.

But Kunjarani said even though she has high regards for her one-time compatriot, she begs to begs to differ with Malleswari's observation.

"I, myself has observed the sport of weightlifting very closely as an athlete, administrator and coach for past 25 years. I am also a fan of Karnam Malleswari and participated with her for more than 15 years on the same platform and have full regard for her contribution to weightlifting," said the 1990 Beijing and 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games bronze medallist.