On May 19, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the BJP MP from Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh and the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, announced his plan to organise a ‘Jan Chetna Maha Rally’ in Ayodhya’s Ramkatha Park, on June 5. Within hours, most of the major crossroads in four districts under the Devipatan administrative division — Gonda, Bahraich, Balarampur, Shravasti — and neighbouring districts of Ayodhya and Barabanki were filled with large posters of Mr. Singh, who is facing two FIRs, including one under the POCSO Act, for allegedly sexually harassing women wrestlers. In the posters, he was seen urging everyone to join the rally organised to deliberate on “the evil” of provincialism, regionalism and caste conflict promoted by some parties.
In next 10 days, Mr. Singh toured the length and breadth of these districts, his stronghold, at times in a helicopter, addressing over 30 meetings of supporters and crying innocence. Many of these gatherings saw a sizeable participation of people, indicating the influence he has built over the years.
Born on January 8, 1957, in Bishnoharpur village in Gonda district in a well-off Rajput family, Brij Bhushan Singh’s grandfather was an MLA from the Congress. He studied at Saket P.G. College in Ayodhya, where he got first-hand experience of student politics, joining the Congress youth wing in the late 1970s. In the 1970s and 80s, the he faced multiple police cases including charges of theft, murder, dacoity, attempt to murder, and kidnapping and also under the stringent Gangsters and Goonda Acts. As per his 2019 election affidavit, Mr. Singh, faces four criminal cases, including serious charges of robbery and attempt to murder.
