The ongoing protest by wrestlers at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi has taken a caste-ist hue, with the Rajput Mahasabha in Muzaffarnagar, western U.P., holding a protest earlier this week outside the District Magistrate’s office, expressing solidarity with the Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Mr. Singh has been named in two FIRs, including one under POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012). India’s women wrestlers have claimed since January that he sexually harassed them.
Following the Supreme Court’s directive to take action, Delhi Police said on May 12 that Mr. Singh’s statement had been recorded and a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to look into the matter.
The support Mr. Singh finds has come after Khap panchayats and farmers arrived from Haryana’s hinterland to give the Central government a 15-day ultimatum to take action against the alleged perpetrator.
The Rajput Mahasabha described the wrestlers’ protest as unethical, adding that the Rajput community would not tolerate the politicisation of this issue based on caste, hinting at the protest’s predominantly Jat participation. They also said he is being harassed because of his caste.
Despite the protest that has been going on for over three weeks now and the pressure to arrest Mr. Singh, the six-time Member of Parliament continues as the head of the Wrestling Federation of India, though he is no longer running its day-to-day work.
“The protest against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is unethical. The FIR has been registered after a hearing in the Supreme Court, and an investigation is underway…. Our Rajput community will unite against such acts,” said Rajendra Singh Pundir, a leader of Rajput Mahasabha, after submitting a memorandum demanding a fair probe. This was addressed to the Prime Minister and routed through Muzzaffarnagar’s district magistrate (DM).
The Rajput consolidation is not limited to U.P. The Haryana Rajput Sabha held a meeting in Bhiwani last week expressing solidarity with the Kaiserganj MP alleging a section of politicians are playing caste politics over the issue.
Amid the ongoing protests, BJP leaders are not commenting on the issue, because of Mr. Singh’s importance in the party’s electoral calculus in U.P. “I will not comment on the issue concerning Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, as Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India, Anurag Thakur ji has already given a detailed statement,” said Rakesh Tripathi, U.P. BJP spokesperson.
Like many strongmen who made a mark in the State’s unstable political landscape of the 1990s, Mr. Singh, 66, emerged as a prominent player in eastern U.P., specifically the Devipatan administrative division, winning six Lok Sabha polls since 1991. He entered Parliament from the Gonda Lok Sabha seat in 1991, represented Balrampur constituency between 2004-09, and won thrice since 2009 from Kaiserganj (that included Bahraich and Gonda districts, due to a reorganisation of constituencies). He is among only a few politicians in the State’s history to be elected from three different parliamentary seats.
Mr. Singh, who was a wrestler in his college days, has had a long stint in the BJP – since the late 1980s, but had a brief stay in the Samajwadi Party (2009-2014) after he was expelled by the BJP. A graduate in law from Avadh University, he has established a chain of more than two dozen educational institutions in the Bahraich-Gonda-Balrampur region.
Amar Kishore Kashyap ‘Bambam’, Gonda district president of the BJP, spoke to The Hindu about how Mr. Singh has got many from the party jobs in these institutions. “He stands with all those who ask for help irrespective of caste,” he said, adding that people approach him for fee concessions, especially in his B.Ed colleges, which he always facilitates.
Mr. Singh wields influence in local district and regional politics with son Prateek Bhushan Singh representing Gonda in the U.P. Vidhan Sabha since 2017, and his wife Ketki Devi Singh being a former MP once and zila panchayat president in Gonda district several times overs.
His supporters and sympathisers are able to get major government contracts in the region, in turn winning his patronage. This, says Mr. Kashyap, is normal. “Every public representative recommends supporters and sympathisers for contracts in accordance with the law,” said the BJP chief.
The 2019 election candidate affidavit says Mr. Singh has four criminal cases, including charges of robbery and attempt to murder, registered against him. In a television interview in 2022, he admitted to shooting and killing a person.
