Brij Bhushan, BJP MP says will contest again from Kaisarganj, avoids mention of wrestlers' stir

Gonda, UP: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a BJP member and the outgoing chief of the WFI who is accused of abusing female wrestlers, announced on Sunday that he would run for the Kaisarganj seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections once more.

Speaking to a crowd in the Balpur neighbourhood of this city on the occasion of the Narendra Modi administration's nine-year anniversary, Singh avoided making any specific mention of the wrestlers' call for his arrest and instead chose to criticise the Congress for its role in the Emergency, the Ram temple controversy, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and other concerns.

The MP began his 23-minute speech with an Urdu couplet, "Kabhi ask, kabhi gumh, to kabhi zeher piya jata hai... tab ja kar zamane mein jiya jata hai. Yeh mila mujhko muhabbat ka silla, bewafa kehke mera naam liya jata hai. Isko ruswai kahen ki shohrat apni, dabe hontho se mera naam liya jata hai (Sometimes one has to take a lot of grief and poison to live in this world... This is the reward I got for my love, they call me unfaithful. Should I call it notoriety or fame, they take my name with pursed lips)."

Asked if he will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Gonda or Ayodhya, Singh told reporters, "Kaiserganj Lok Sabha se chunav ladunga, ladunga, ladunga (I will definitely contest from Kaiserganj)." On why he was not commenting on the wrestlers' protest and what was he waiting for, the BJP MP said, "Court ke faisle ka (court's verdict)." Singh has remained defiant despite facing possible action from Delhi Police, which has recorded statements of over 200 people in connection with the case against him and will file a chargesheet by June 15.

On Saturday, the protesting wrestlers alleged he was using his influence to put sexual harassment victims under pressure and forcing them to change their statements. They also threatened to resume their stir if decisive action was not taken against the MP by June 15.

Singh has denied the allegations against him and has claimed that some Congress leaders from Haryana had hatched a conspiracy to defame him because of the reforms he had brought as the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief.

During his address at the rally, he also said no force in the world could stop the BJP from coming to power again in 2024.

Attacking the Congress, Singh said, "In 1947, the country got divided when the Congress was in power. The wounds of the Partition had not even healed when Pakistan attacked and grabbed 78,000 square kilometres of our land while the Congress was in power."

"In 1962, when the Congress was in power, China attacked (us) and grabbed 33,000 square kilometres of our land. In 1971 (India-Pakistan war), an unprecedented 92,000 (Pakistani) soldiers were made prisoners of war by the Indian Army. Still, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi freed them without settling the old score," the WFI president said.

"Had there been a prime minister like (Narendra) Modi then in the country, the land that was grabbed would have been freed," he said.

Singh also attacked the Congress for imposing the Emergency in the country in 1975. "The Congress got Sikhs massacred in 1984 in the anti-Sikh riots," he added.

Showering praises on Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the BJP leader said, "Earlier, we used to say 'Jahaan Balidaan (Syama Prasad) Mookerjee Huye, Woh Kashmir Hamara Hai' (the Kashmir where Syama Prasad Mookerjee attained martyrdom is ours). We proudly repeat this today, and it has been made possible because of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah."

Apparently referring to former Congress leader Kapil Sibal's 2017 pitch for deferment of hearing of the Ayodhya title suit till after the 2019 general elections, Singh said, "The Congress posed hurdles and obstructions by fielding a lawyer so that any decision on the Ram Temple would not come in time. It made the Supreme Court work even during midnight to save a convicted terrorist from capital punishment." He also referred to the Congress demanding proof of the Indian Army's surgical strikes on terror camps following attacks in Uri and Pulwama and questioning the anti-COVID vaccine manufactured by scientists in India.

Higher Education Minister of Madhya Pradesh Mohan Yadav said, "The double-engine government of Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath is working very well. Whosoever has done wrong has been reduced to dust." Yadav also termed the Agnipath scheme a "milestone in the country's development", and said, "After completing the service period of the Agnipath scheme, our youngsters can become doctors, engineers and officers, and the discipline inculcated in them during the training will help them to move ahead."

He also listed the achievements during the nine years of the Modi government. "When Modiji was the chief minister of Gujarat, he was denied a visa to the US. But now, every president wants to meet him. Not just the US but every nation wants to have a good relationship with India." Amid the wrestlers' protest, Brij Bhushan Singh had requested permission from the Ayodhya district administration to hold a rally on June 5 but was denied.

However, the MP had said he postponed the 'Jan Chetna Maharally' at the Ram Katha Park for "a few days" due to the ongoing police probe into the wrestlers' allegations against him.

With PTI inputs