Under fire Brij Bhushan announces bid to contest 2024 Lok Sabha elections; reveals constituency

BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing allegations of sexually harassing female wrestlers, on Sunday said he will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from the Kaiserganj seat again.

Facing allegations of sexual harassment, Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Sunday announced that he would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections again from the Kaiserganj constituency. He also said the BJP will form a majority government next year.

Addressing a rally in the Balpur area in Gonda, on the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government, Singh skipped any direct reference to the wrestlers' protest for his arrest and chose to target the Congress over the Emergency, Ram temple, the 1984 anti-Sikhs riots and other issues.

During his address at the rally, he said that nothing in the world could prevent the BJP from retaking power in 2024. Attacking the Congress, Singh said, "In 1947, the country got divided when the Congress was in power. While the Congress was in power, Pakistan launched an offensive and seized 78,000 square kilometres of Indian country before the Partition wounds had even fully healed."

The protesting wrestlers said Singh was using his position to push sexual harassment victims into changing their testimony on Saturday. Additionally, they warned that if no action was done against him by June 15 they would resume their protests. India's ace wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting against Singh and demanding his arrest for allegedly sexually harassing seven women athletes.

Singh has refuted the accusations made against him and said that certain Haryana-based Congress politicians plotted to discredit him as a result of the changes he had implemented as the head of the Wrestling Federation of India. "If a single allegation against me is proven, I will hang myself. If you (wrestlers) have any evidence, present it to the Court, and I am ready to accept any punishment," he said.