BJP ousts Brij Bhushan from his Kaiserganj constituency; his son to contest from his seat this year

Image Source: India TV News

Former wrestling president & juggernaut from UP Brij Bhushan Singh has been sacked from this year’s Lok Sabha polls; the party is instead going to pitch his son Karan Bhushan Singh his seat, who is presently the running President of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association and a national level shooter.

Reasons behind dethroning the high-profile MP are most probably due to the outrage and backlash he received after grave charges of sexual allegations that were leveled against him earlier last year, which had taken the whole nation by storm when the most renowned wrestlers, Sakshee Malikkh, Bajrang Punia staged widespread protests against him. The case is still sub-judice.

Moreover, earlier this week, the Delhi court had brushed off MP’s plea, which had sought more investigation into the harassment case filed against him by the wrestlers, citing that he was not in the country when one of the incidents of harassment took place. Priyanka Rajpoot, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, turned it down and further announced the order on the charge framing this month.

It’s certainly clear why the BJP did not do away with the MP altogether since it would translate into bad optics, largely due to the huge clout the leader wields. In addition to that, the party also fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh as the new candidate from the Rae Bareilly seat, who is reportedly an integral Rajput face who stood against Sonia Gandhi back in the 2019 LS polls.

BJP’s commitment to not letting the leader go is also partly attributed to the charitable persona narrative he pushes for himself; he has been behind several colleges and pharmacies and is widely known to act benevolently towards the poor, namely by exempting their college fees, among other things.

Being a prominent Thakur leader who is also a seemingly powerful leader is something the BJP can not dispense with, and as the party already faces some criticism for not nominating enough Thakur faces, neglecting him completely could have caused dire repercussions for them in the election time.

Meanwhile, opposition has slammed the government, calling it a devious move. TMC leader Sagarika Ghose, while talking to ANI said, “BJP has given a ticket to Brij Bhushan Singh’s son Karan Singh and it is disgraceful and shameful. He has been accused of serious sexual assault by none other than India’s Olympic medal-winning women wrestlers. To give a ticket to Brij Bhushan Singh’s son is nothing but politics of proxy. It shows BJP is not willing to condemn the sexual assault committed by Brij Bhushan Singh, isn’t this dynastic politics?.”

One of the wrestlers who spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan expressed anguish at the decision in a post on X(formerly known as Twitter) said, “The daughters of India lost today and Brij Bhushan won, let alone arresting the man you have broken the faith of millions of Indian daughters by giving his son the seat, the ticket ends up in the same family, how can a government act so weak in front of one man?.”

Congress also came down heavily on the party, secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “Just when we thought that the Prajwal revanna scandal had exposed BJP’s degeneracy, they stoop even lower.They are devoid of any moral compass and are being led by a man whose only anchor is his desire for boundless power.”

Image Source: ANI

On Thursday, after being nominated, the newly enrolled candidate, Karan Bhushan Singh was seen offering prayer at Hanuman Garhi in Ayodhya.

The Elections in the Kaiserganj constituency are said to be held in the fifth phase on May 20.