Wrestlers’ protest: Is BJP worried about perceptions impacting electoral prospects in Jat-dominated areas?

Tribune Web Desk

Vibha Sharma

Chandigarh, June 7

Wrestlers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia today met Sports Minister Anurag Thakur who late last night tweeted that the government was “willing to have a discussion with the wrestlers on their issues” and that “he had once again invited the wrestlers for the same.”

The meeting came after Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia “held talks” with Home Minister Amit Shah, though some media reports claimed that the MHA “denied any such meeting took place”.

Wrestlers are demanding the arrest of BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The Congress today accused the government of trying to “suppress the voices” of female wrestlers who have levelled sexual harassment allegations against Brij Bhushan , saying that it will have to pay a heavy price for “protecting” him as the "nation was watching".

Is BJP worried?

The meeting today indicates the ruling partywants the stalemate with protesting wrestlers to end, and fast.

Apparently, the party leadership feels that the optics of protesting wrestlers are generating perceptions that may harm their prospects in the three Hindi heartland states where the elections are due later this year—Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

The fact that these wrestlers come from the Jat community is another key factor.

The community is dominant in many parts of north India—Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi—and has the potential to affect many Lok Sabha seats there. They may be based in different states but members of the community share family links and what is known as ‘roti-beti karishta’.

Also, after Narendra Modi government’s U-turn on the three farm laws and the resulting success in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, BJP leaders believe the party has managed to mend relations that deteriorated after the farmers’ agitation. After the 2016 agitation for reservation in jobs by Jats in Haryana, the BJP has been cautious with the 'khap’ leadership and wants to continue with that.

Sources say the leadership also wants to dispel notions that the BJP leadership is arrogant, does not believe in finding solutions, that it allows problems fester and then do a U-turn when things get out of control.

Another reason that the BJP wants to settle this issue is to cement the faith regarding the safety of women. Observers say the assurance of zero tolerance on crimes against women by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath added to the factors thatled theparty returning to powerin the state in the last elections.

Women’s safety has been a major issue in UP since the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots and the BJP does not want the notion—that the BJP overlooked the safety of 'behen-beti' for the sake of a 'bahubali'—to take root ahead of 2024.

BJP’s ‘powerful’ Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

The charges of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan in his capacity of chief of the WFI are grave.

The BJP believes that even though the concerns of the wrestlers have been “largely addressed and law enforcement agencies are examining their complaints”, the opposition, particularly the Congress, is “politicising the issue for political gains”.

At the same time, however, the BJP seems to be facing the proverbial Catch-22 situation regarding Brij Bhushan ahead of the 2024 General Election.

Party’s fortunes are influenced by Uttar Pradesh—the state that sends as many as 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha and is often termed as the path to power in Delhi. Brij Bhushan is one of the BJP’s 62 MPs who represent the state in the current Lok Sabha.

66-year-old Brij Bhushan belongs to the group of politicians in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, especially from eastern and northeastern parts of UP, popularly referred as ‘bahubalis’. Though mostly, he has been in the BJP, Brij Bhushan contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2009 general elections.

Brij Bhushan has been associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was also named in the Babri demolition case, according to his election affidavit.

However the six-time MP at one point also had 38 cases against him under various charges, including theft, rioting, murder, criminal intimidation, attempt to murder, kidnapping, etc.

Notably, Brij Bhusan in an interview in 2022 admitted to having committed a murder. “Mere Jeevan mein mere haath se ek hatya hui hai. Log kuchh bhi kahen, maine ek hatya ki hai (I have committed one murder in my life. Whatever people may say, I have committed one murder)”, he was quoted as saying.

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