Why Brij Bhushan and Kaiserganj are rather inseparable for BJP

In what appears to be a climbdown, the BJP, after much dilly-dallying, looks set to field Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh from the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh, though a formal announcement is yet to be made.

The party had initially offered to give a ticket to one of his family members but the controversial MP dug in his heels and the party high command has given a go-ahead to him and asked him to begin his campaign, sources in the know told The Federal.

“The BJP leadership has assured Brij Bhushan Singh of a party ticket and he has been told to begin his poll campaign in the constituency. His workers have already begun the campaign for him across all assembly segments of the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency,” Sabir Azizi, an independent political observer from Colonelganj who was once associated with the CPI-ML, told The Federal.

All leaders of the BJP who had shown interest in the candidacy, as an alternative to Brij Bhushan, have withdrawn from the race, Azizi added.

The Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency will witness voting on May 20, under Phase 5.

State set for announcement

Kaiserjanj, the Lok Sabha seat which Brij Bhushan Singh has been representing since 2009, is in the news. All eyes are on the BJP, which has not announced its candidate for the constituency yet. The buzz is that after the saffron party announces its candidate for the constituency, the rest of the parties, which have so far kept their cards close to their chest, will follow suit.

May 3 is the due date for filing nomination papers for candidates seeking election from the constituency which comprises the five assembly segments of Payagpur, Kaiserganj, Katra Bazar, Colonelganj, and Tarabganj. Out of these, only the Kaiserganj assembly seat is with the Samajwadi Party (SP), while the rest are with the BJP. The BJP, in other words, holds the sway across the Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographically, Muslims constitute 25.27 of Kaiserganj’s population, Dalits 15.14 and the rest are Rajputs and Brahmins. Other minorities, including Buddhists, Christians, Jains, Sikh and STs, together constitute around 1 per cent of the population.

Why was BJP dilly-dallying?

Political observers say the BJP was in a bind over giving ticket to Brij Bhushan, the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, who has been accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers representing India in the international sports arena. The party leadership approached the Kaiserganj strongman, asking him to abdicate the seat for one of his family members, political observers told The Federal.

Initially, the names of Brij Bhushan's close associates and legislators Ajay Kumar Singh and Prem Narayan Pandey were also doing the rounds in media reports as probable candidates.

The BJP was keen to give a ticket to his son Prateek Bhushan Singh, two-time BJP MLA from Ganda constituency, but Brij Bhushan is said to have dug in his heels. Piqued at the possible refusal of a ticket by the BJP, Brij Bhushan even weighed other options, it is said.

It is also being speculated that the BJP is waiting for the second phase of polling to get over before announcing Brij Bhushan's candidature, as the Jat-dominated seats in Uttar Pradesh finish polling across the first two phases. It may be noted that the women wrestlers are mostly Jats, and the community has been angry with Brij Bhushan.

Did SP deny him a ticket?

Another rumour doing the rounds is that Brij Bhushan may have approached the SP. “Like his fellow Thakur strongman Dhananjay Singh, Brij Bhushan approached the SP for a ticket but Akhilesh Yadav refused to entertain him for fear of him switching to the BJP again after winning the Lok Sabha election, which he will surely win,” said a source in the SP.

Akhilesh's fear of SP leaders switching loyalty to the BJP after winning elections is not misplaced. Five SP MLAs – two Thakurs among them – joined the BJP after winning the 2022 Assembly elections on an SP ticket.

Back in 2009, Brij Bhushan left the BJP for the SP, but after winning the Lok Sabha election from the Kaiserganj constituency, he was quick to junk the party and join the BJP again. He won the 2014 and 2019 general elections from Kaiserganj.

Before Brij Bhushan, it was SP leader Beni Prasad Varma who won election from the constituency for four consecutive terms since 1996.

Titling the scale in BJP’s favour

There is a reason why the BJP is wary of antagonising Brij Bhushan. With the strongman on its side, the party has seen its vote share rise phenomenally in Kaiserganj, from 40.44 per cent in 2014 to 59.24 per cent in 2019. In contrast, it could poll only 21.3 per cent votes in its favour in the 2009 Lok Sabha election, when Brij Bhushan won the election as an SP candidate.

Out of 9,82,323 votes cast in the 2019 election, Brij Bhushan polled 581,358 votes, which is 59.24 per cent. His nearest rival, Chandradev Ram Yadav of BSP, polled 3,19,757 votes, or 32.58 per cent. The SP did not field a candidate against the BJP leader.

In the 2014 election, the victory margin was not that high as the BJP MP polled 3,81,500 votes against his nearest rival from SP Vinod Kumar, alias Pandit Singh, who polled 3,03,282 votes.

It is apparent that Brij Bhushan has grown in stature as far as winning elections is concerned. Kaiserganj is considered his personal fiefdom, where he has not allowed other parties to build a base. “The SP may not field a candidate against him this time around as well,” said the source.

Eye on Rajput voters

Sources told The Federal it is highly unlikely the BJP will deny Brij Bhushan a ticket in the face of a boycott call by the Rajput community in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere. “Probably, the BJP will give him the ticket as no other name has surfaced in the party circles,” said a source on the condition of anonymity.

Rae Bareli is another constituency for which the BJP has not announced its candidate as yet. Other parties including the BSP and the Congress may announce their candidates for the constituency after the BJP makes a formal announcement.

Voting in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Mohanlaljanj, Lucknow, Amethi, Rai Bareli, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Kaiserganj, Faizabad, Gonda will take place on May 20 in the third phase of election.