Three reasons why BJP dropped Brij Bhushan Singh, opted for his son in Kaiserganj

By fielding Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s youngest son Karan Bhushan Singh in the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has attempted to get over the Catch-22 situation by not fielding the six-time parliamentarian who has been accused of sexual assault and at the same time giving the ticket to someone from his immediate family to ensure it does not lose out on his clout in Kaiserganj and nearby areas.

Karan, who is 28 years old, is the youngest of Brij Bhushan’s three sons and succeeded him as the UP Wrestling Association president in February. He has been a national-level trap shooter and the coming election will be his first foray into mainstream electoral politics.

Had the BJP renominated Brij Bhushan, the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, it would have been vulnerable to criticism from the Opposition for fielding someone whom the country’s top female wrestlers have accused of sexual assault. This would have also been bad optics at a time when the party is facing criticism over the sexual abuse allegations against Prajwal Revanna, the Hassan MP who is from the party’s Karnataka ally Janata Dal (Secular). Meanwhile, denying the Kaiserganj strongman or his close family the ticket would have been a blow to its prospects in at least six Lok Sabha seats, including Kaiserganj, Shravasti, Basti, and Ayodhya.

Singh, a six-time MP has won Kaiserganj five times on a BJP ticket and once for the SP. His writ runs large in eastern UP politics and he is 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. Singh is known to give fee