Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh Is No Saint. But BJP Has Reasons To Look Away From Wrestlers' Protest PDF

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is no saint.
But BJP has reasons to look away from

wrestlers’ protest
D.K. Singh
There was a message in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat Sunday for

wrestlers, including Olympian medalists, sitting on dharna at Delhi’s Jantar
Mantar. They are demanding action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Wrestling
Federation of India president and Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian,
accusing him of sexually harassing women wrestlers over the past decade. BJP
has maintained a studied silence. It took the Supreme Court’s intervention for the
Delhi Police to act on their complaints and lodge FIRs against the Bahubali MP
from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaisarganj.
Modi’s message for protesting wrestlers
In the 100th edition of his monthly radio programme, Modi appeared to have
broken that silence—subtly but loudly. It came in the form of the “hundreds of
inspiring stories” of women empowerment from “our Army or the sports world”,
references to the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme that he had launched from
Haryana and the Selfie with Daughter campaign started by a Haryana resident,
Sunil Jaglan, who featured in Sunday’s programme and credited Modi for starting
“the fourth battle of Panipat to bring smiles on the faces of daughters”.
Incidentally, the protesting wrestlers also hail from Haryana.
Of course, Modi made no mention of the wrestlers or their protests in the Mann
ki Baat radio programme on Sunday. But the message was unmistakable: his
government has a stellar record in women’s empowerment, and it can’t be
blemished by the alleged misdeeds of his partymen. Now it is wrestlers’ words
versus Modi’s words, full stop.
Thanks to the welfare schemes launched by the Modi government since 2014, as
also the PM’s popularity, more women have started veering toward BJP. As
per the 2019 Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey, the percentage of women who
voted for BJP increased to 36 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from 29
per cent in 2014. For Congress, the figures stood at 20 per cent and 19 per cent,
respectively. Eleven per cent of the women who had voted for Congress in 2014
shifted to BJP in 2019.
If you saw Modi’s roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday, you might think that
recent controversies over the alleged misdeeds of BJP legislators haven’t had
much bearing on Modi’s popularity among women. From Magadi Road to Nice
Road, I saw groups of women standing or sitting on pavements and waiting for
Modi for over two hours. As his roadshow started, many ran excitedly to get a
closer look at him.
Aside, Karnataka has had one of the worst records when it comes
to the representation of women in the assembly. Its best tally was in 2018, when
seven women MLAs were elected to the 224-member assembly.
It’s unlikely to get much better in the next assembly. BJP and Congress have
fielded 12 and 9 women candidates, respectively, in this election.
Coming to the Bengaluru roadshow, the enthusiastic response of women only
suggests Modi’s popularity among them—or probably their curiosity about him.
By no means can it be taken as any indication of a lack of empathy with the
wrestlers protesting in Delhi. For all we know, most of them might not even be
aware of what’s happening roughly 2,200 kilometres away. I am citing their
response only to contextualise why PM Modi putting himself in the front and
putting forth his initiatives for women’s empowerment in the Mann ki
Baat programme provides a shield to his party and government from the alleged
acts of commission or omission by party colleagues like Brij Bhushan Sharan
Singh. Or, for that matter, Haryana minister Sandeep Singh who was accused
of sexually harassing a woman coach and continues to enjoy the support
of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the party leadership.
Also read: ‘Bigger than Olympics’. Wrestlers brave heat, mosquitoes, abuses to
mount Nirbhaya-like protest
Brij Bhushan Singh is no saint
That brings us to the question of why BJP should risk alienating or upsetting
Modi voters by being seen as defending or condoning the serious alleged crimes
of its leaders with silence. Latest allegations aside, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is
no saint. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court last week that there
were 40 cases against Singh.
Last December, an MP-MLA court acquitted him in a 29-year-old case of
attempt to murder former UP minister Vinod Kumar Singh. The court, however,
pulled up the investigators for making no effort to collect evidence.
In an interview with The Lallantop last year, Brij Bhushan Singh admitted on
camera: “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 spent several months in jail under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act
(TADA) in the mid-1990s for allegedly helping underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s
men.
Last year, he even criticised the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government for “shoddy
preparations” for floods, saying, “Public representatives are silent. Speaking is
disallowed. If you speak, you will be termed a rebel.”
Also read: Roads for training mats & tents for beds — day in life of wrestlers
protesting at Jantar Mantar
BJP has reasons for looking the other way
So, why would BJP continue to protect Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh? He enjoys
immense political clout, for sure. He is a six-term MP from three different
constituencies – Gonda, Balrampur, and Kaisarganj — and has a following among
Rajputs in two-three other adjoining constituencies. He was also part of the Ram
Janmabhoomi movement and was an accused in the Babri demolition case. That
makes Singh a much sought-after BJP leader. The party may also be conscious
of the fact that any action against him may affect its prospects in urban local
body elections on 4 and 11 May.
Another reason could be sheer chutzpah or BJP’s over-confidence about its
ability to build public perception. No matter the allegations against its leaders,
the ruling party chooses to brazen it out, refusing to take any action against
them and ignoring public outcry. When there was public outrage over Union
minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, allegedly killing protesting farmers in
Lakhimpur Kheri in 2022, BJP simply ignored it. The junior home minister has
continued to enjoy the high command’s support. So has Haryana minister
Sandeep Singh, following sexual harassment allegations. CM Khattar even called
the allegation “absurd” during police investigations.
The party has similarly chosen to look the other way when Brij Bhushan Sharan
Singh is under fire. A party with a popular prime minister at the
helm can probably afford to show disregard for public sentiments against some
of its leaders. In an era of transactional politics, party strategists may even feel
that a handful of wrestlers alleging sexual harassment won’t have any electoral
fallout. As always, PM Modi is willing to stake his own image for the benefit of his
party. The big question is whether it will help or hurt BJP in the long run.
DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)

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Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is no saint.

But BJP has reasons to look away from

There was a message in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat Sunday for

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