Ending speculations around Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s son Karan Bhushan Singh from the seat.
Kaiserganj is currently represented by Brij Bhushan, who is a three-time MP from the seat. The party dropped him this time in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations levelled against him by several women wrestlers.
Several athletes, including, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat had launched a massive protest against Brij Bhushan, demanding his sacking as the WFI chief. The Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against Brij Bhushan in June last year, in connection with the case.
The sexual harassment case and the ensuing protests prompted the BJP to look for another option in Kaiserganj. However, the fact that the seat's contest remains within his family shows how influential the Thakur leader is in the region and the party.
The female wrestlers protesting against the former WFI chief were Jats. Brij Bhushan's candidature could have lead to a possible ruffling of feathers. Ignoring him, however, would damage the party not just in Kaiserganj but also in neighbouring constituencies, our correspondent reported from Lucknow.
Recently, Brij Bhushan claimed that whoever the party's pick from the constituency would win with at least a five lakh margin. In 1996 when Singh was in jail under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, his wife Ketki had contested from Gonda and polled 28,000 more votes than what her husband had in the previous election.
Meanwhile, the BJP named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli, a Gandhi family bastion which has been won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi for five consecutive times. Gandhi is now a Rajya Sabha MP and the Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the seat.