All you want to know about controversial WFI chief and BJP's Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
Vibha Sharma
Chandigarh January 19
A cornered WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Thursday reportedly called Sports Minister Anurag Thakur to clarify stance on sexual allegations against him and members of the federation by India’s top wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik.
Denying all charges and claiming “political vendetta”, the BJP’s Kaiserganj MP was also quoted as saying that “even if one wrestler comes forward and says that she has been sexually harassed, that day I can be hanged”.
While his next move is awaited, for his party—the BJP—it is a proverbial Catch-22 situation ahead of the 2024 General Election. A 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.
Notably, recently a minister in BJP’s Haryana Government Sandeep Singh had to resign after being accused of sexual harassment by a coach.
While Brij Bhushan does not hold any ministerial post, the charges have put the BJP in a tight spot ahead of the critical Lok Sabha Elections, given his influence in several constituencies in UP.
Who is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh?
Sixty-six years 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’.
Born in Gonda, the six-time MP is himself a wrestler.
President of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for almost 10 years, he is also the vice-president of the United World Wrestling-Asia.
Though, mostly, he has been in the BJP, Brij Bhushan contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 2009 General Elections
SP leaders, however, claim that he was never really associated with their party given his past.
His close associates say his ideology matched BJP, therefore, he did a ‘ghar wapsi’. Brij Bhushan has been associated with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was also named in the Babri demolition case, according to his election affidavit
Having represented Gonda and Balrampur, this is his third term from Kaiserganj.
Elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1991 from Gonda on a BJP ticket, he returned in 1999 from the same constituency.
In 2004 he was elected from Balrampur.
He joined the SP in 2008.
In 2009, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Kaiserganj—a constituency which he now represents for the BJP.
Perceived as a tough sports administrator, Brij Bhushan is someone who likes being directly involved in wrestling tournaments at all levels. In those terms, he wields great influence in the sport and on the players—a fact that athletes who leveled the serious allegations against him are well aware of.
