Lucknow, June 9: Brij Bhushan Singh, Kaiserganj BJP MP, and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, will take the stage at a party event in Gonda on June 11 amid a simmering controversy over charges of sexual harassment lodged by national level grapplers.
Meanwhile, the event is part of the BJP’s effort to commemorate the conclusion of Narendra Modi’s nine-year tenure as Prime Minister.
Singh appealed to all incumbent and former BJP MLAs from the Kaiserganj parliamentary constituency, as well as his supporters, party workers, BJP office bearers, gram pradhans, and block pramukhs, to attend the event at Raghuraj Sharan Singh Degree College (which is owned by Brij Bhushan himself) in Balpur, Gonda. Mohan Yadav, Madhya Pradesh’s higher education minister, will be the rally’s principal guest.
This comes only days after Singh cancelled a rally in Ayodhya (on June 5), apparently after being chastised by the BJP high command. The Ayodhya gathering was considered as Singh’s show of strength in the face of the raging issue that has frightened the beleaguered BJP MP supporters.
Amar Kishore Kashyap, the BJP’s Gonda district president, said that the gathering was a party function to which Brij Bhushan was invited as an MP. “The controversy surrounding him is currently under investigation. We don’t have to say anything about it right now,” Kashyap said.
Kashyap stated that all party MPs are cordially invited to the events being held in all 80 Lok Sabha constituencies across the state until June 30.
A similar event will be held on June 10 at Mankapur under the Gonda parliamentary seat, which is represented by BJP’s Kirti Vardhan Singh.
According to sources, the BJP is wary of Brij Bhushan, who had significant political power not just in Gonda but also in nearby districts like Bahraich, Balrampur, and Shravasti. “The party cannot completely ignore him until the investigation into him is completed,” a senior BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.
According to sources, a slew of local MLAs in Gonda and adjoining areas are also uniting around Singh, a six-term Lok Sabha MP.
Payagpur, Kaiserganj, Katra Bazaar, Colonelganj, and Tarabganj are all assembly seats of the Kaiserganj parliamentary constituency. Except for Payagpur and Kaiserganj, which are in Bahraich, the remaining four are in Gonda.
In truth, SP MLA Anand Yadav represents the Kaiserganj assembly seat, while the others are BJP MLAs. Prateek Bhushan Singh, Brij Bhushan’s son, is also an MLA from the Gonda assembly constituency. It was uncertain if he would attend the June 11 event, which would be attended by his father.
