In east UP stronghold, ‘absent’ Brij Bhushan is ubiquitous as he steers son’s bid from shadows

While the ruling BJP replaced senior party leader and sitting MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with his youngest son Karan Bhushan Singh, 33, as its candidate for the Lok Sabha polls from the Kaiserganj seat neighbouring Ayodhya in east Uttar Pradesh, Karan is fighting his debut election in his father’s name.

Of the 75 Lok Sabha seats that the BJP is contesting in UP out of 80, leaving five for its NDA allies, the party declared Kaiserganj’s candidate along with that of Rae Bareli at the very end — on May 2, just one day before the deadline for filing of nomination there.

Kaiserganj is going to polling on May 20 in the fifth phase of polls.

The former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan, 67, has been facing allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by six women wrestlers.

A six-time MP, five as the BJP face and one on the Samajwadi Party (SP)’s ticket, Brij Bhushan is known as a strongman Thakur leader whose writ runs large in east UP. He has been actively associated with more than 50 educational institutions, including engineering, pharmacy, education, law and others that he established in Bahraich, Gonda, Balrampur, Ayodhya, and Shravasti districts.

Since the BJP nominated his son as the Kaiserganj candidate, Brij Bhushan has kept a low-profile, keeping himself away from the limelight of the campaign trail.

He did not accompany Karan when he went to file his nomination papers in Gonda on May 3, although his show of strength was then on display. Later in the day then, he organised a big rally there for his son, which was attended by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. He attended the event but kept it low-key.

According to local BJP insiders, Brij Bhushan had been addressing public