Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh: When An Individual Is Above The Party (image: facebook.com/brijbhushansharan)
BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was denied a Lok Sabha ticket on Kaiserganj in the aftermath of sexual harassment allegations leveled against him by several women wrestlers, is active on the campaign trail, requesting support for his son Karan Bhushan Singh. He says, he is “like a ‘chutta sand’ (stray bull) who can take on anybody” and would work for the public”s welfare with double zeal, as the Hindustan Times quotes him as saying.
Aside from sexual assault allegations raised by Olympic medalists, including involvement in gunfights and financial irregularities to attempt murder, Brij Bhushan Singh is infamously known. Though controversies and allegations loom large over the party”s heavyweight MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, his political clout has not weakened in all these years; therefore, the BJP cannot deride the influence Brij Bhushan Singh entails. His influence did not exactly come from contesting elections six times in Gonda, Balrampur, and Kaiserganj; he runs over 50 educational institutions in several districts, which also enables him to maintain his political supremacy in the region. Since Brij Bhushan maintains a stature bigger than the party in the area, by fielding his son as the replacement, the BJP leadership masterfully avoided the political disruptions and concerns that could possibly arise.
Brij Bhushan Singh started his political career as a student leader and was part of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. He was one of the major faces in the movement and arrested along with senior BJP leader LK Advani. In the mid-1990s, his relationship with the underworld with Dawood Ibrahim gang has also surfaced.
After the BJP, he undertook a brief stint in the Samajwadi Party (SP) as well. In 2009, he switched over to the SP but returned to the BJP before Modi”s win in 2014. He won the parliamentary seat from Kaiserganj in 2014 and retained the position in 2019 as well. His staunch Hindutva politics are also aiding the saffron party a great deal, which obliges them to handle his defiance.
