Lucknow: On Tuesday, a day before the last day for filing nominations for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made a controversial announcement — that it was going to field Karan Bhushan, the youngest son of its Kaiserganj MP and strongman Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, from the seat.
The BJP’s announcement, which came after months of protests against former Wrestling Federation of India chief and six-time MP Brij Bhushan over sexual harassment allegations, met with much condemnation from both wrestlers and opposition parties.
Top wrestlers Sakshee Malikkh and Bajrang Punia denounced the move hours after it was announced.
बीजेपी अपने आपको दुनिया की सबसे बड़ी पार्टी मानती है पर अपने लाखों कार्यकर्ताओं में से बृजभूषण के बेटे को टिकट दिया, वह भी जब प्रजव्वल रेवन्ना के मामले पर बीजेपी घिरी हुई है।
पंजाब हरियाणा के आंदोलनों में एक नारा यहाँ के लोग लगाते हैं, “सरकारों से ना आस करो, अपनी रखवाली आप करो।”… pic.twitter.com/6xvFMnfjAT
— Bajrang Punia 🇮🇳 (@BajrangPunia) May 2, 2024
Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party, meanwhile, accused the BJP of deliberately putting off the announcement until the end of elections in western Uttar Pradesh — a region dominated by Jats, the caste group to which majority of the wrestlers who sat in protest last year belong.
Eight seats in western UP — Saharanpur, Bijnor, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Nagina, Moradabad, Rampur, and Pilibhit — voted in the second phase of the parliamentary polls on 26 April.
“This is a deliberate act because the BJP wanted to first ensure that the voting in the Jat belt was over and decided to field the son of a tainted person towards the last leg of the third phase election. This is only to mislead the public,” SP spokesperson I.P. Singh told ThePrint.
The BJP, however, dismissed such allegations, saying that the ticket distribution was part of the “BJP’s strategy”.
“It’s not misleading the public. Hasn’t (Congress leader) Rahul Gandhi’s ticket been delayed till the last date of nomination?” UP BJP spokesperson Awanish Tyagi asked. “Since the Opposition has no issues to raise against the BJP government, it is trying to deliberately create issues.”
Kaiserganj will go to polls on 20 May in the fifth phase of the ongoing parliamentary polls.
Also Read: ‘Wrote false things 1st time, was angry with Brij Bhushan’ — minor wrestler’s father on new statement
Allegations against Brij Bhushan
Protests against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh began in January last year, forcing the Union Sports Ministry to intervene. The protests, led by top wrestling names such as Olympic medal-winner Malikkh, Punia, and Vinesh Phogat, were called off at that time after the Indian Olympic Association formed an oversight committee to probe their claims.
In its report submitted on 16 April, the panel found the allegations to be “malicious and unfounded”. However, those findings were not made public.
Meanwhile, protests resumed at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar the same month — this time for an FIR against Brij Bhushan.
The FIR was registered after Supreme Court intervention and a chargesheet was filed against him by Delhi Police in June. However, the BJP MP, who continues to deny the allegations, is yet to be arrested.
Things took another turn last December when Sanjay Kumar Singh, an aide of Brij Bhushan, was elected the WFI chief. Following protests against this development — which saw Malikkh announce that she was quitting wrestling and Punia return his Padma Shri— the sports ministry intervened and suspended the body. Brij Bhushan, meanwhile, announced that he would keep away from the sport.
In February, Karan Bhushan became president of the UP Wrestling Association, with wrestlers Malikkh and Punia once again threatening to resume protests.
‘National-level shooter who loves animals’ — who is Karan Bhushan
The 33-year-old Karan Bhushan is the youngest of Brij Bhushan’s four children. His oldest brother, Shakti Singh had shot himself in 2004 and had allegedly blamed the Kaiserganj bahubali leader for it.
The BJP MP also has a daughter and another son, Prateek — a BJP MLA from Gonda Sadar constituency.
According to an aide, Karan has BBA and LLB degrees from Dr. Rammanohar Lohia Avadh University, Ayodhya, and a diploma in business management from Australia’s Deakin University. “He’s also a national-level double trap shooter and has a gold medal at the state level in the sport,” the aide said.
Karan’s Instagram and Facebook pages have photos of him posing with several animals. He’s fond of animals and takes his two children fishing, the aide said.
He’s also associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh — the BJP’s ideological fountainhead — and remains politically active in Kaiserganj in his father’s absence.
“From attending weddings to visiting grieving families, Karan remains present in Kaiserganj-Gonda area when Brij Bhushan cannot go there,” a BJP leader from Gonda told ThePrint.
Political rivals from Brij Bhusna’s own party, meanwhile, claim the BJP had “succumbed to pressure” from the bahubali leader. One of these detractors is Mahesh Tiwari, who was hoping for a ticket from Kaiserganj.
“In the background of serious allegations levelled against Brij Bhushan and the fact that JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna has been facing serious charges of sexual abuse, it was assumed that the party may not field him,” said Tiwari, who, miffed at the party not giving him a ticket from Gonda Sadar assembly seat in 2017, had unsuccessfully fought that year’s assembly polls on a Shiv Sena ticket. “But giving the ticket to his son means that the ticket has gone to the same family.”
SP spokesperson I.P. Singh, meanwhile, said that the BJP’s decision belies the thinking of a party that claims to support women’s empowerment.
“This is the most condemnable thing. When our wrestler daughters who made us proud in the world by bringing medals for us were protesting against this person, they were lathi-charged upon and mistreated by the police. Now, the BJP has given a ticket to the son of the most controversial person in the country. Is this how the party lives its slogan ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’?” he asked.
Also Read: Delhi Police file chargesheet against Brij Bhushan. ‘Relies on testimonies, lacks tech evidence’