BJP Drops Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Fields His Son Karan from UP's Kaiserganj Lok Sabha Seat

For the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP dropped sitting MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, and gave the ticket to his son Karan Bhushan Singh. Brij Bhushan suffered a massive political setback due to the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him that saw some of the country's top women wrestlers hit the streets.

Kaiserganj (Uttar Pradesh):Putting an end to all the speculations around Uttar Pradesh's Kaiserganj seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday declared former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son Karan Bhushan Singh as its candidate from the seat for the Lok Sabha elections.

The Kaiserganj constituency is currently held by BJP's Brij Bhushan Singh, who is a three-time MP from the seat. He, however, has not been given a ticket this time. The seat had become a point of pondering for the BJP after Brij Bhushan was accused of sexual harassment of female wrestlers. This sparked massive protests by several athletes including Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat.

The Delhi Police filed chargesheet in connection with the case against the former WFI chief in June last year. The BJP also announced the candidature of Dinesh Pratap Singh from the Rae Bareli constituency. Singh had also contested the polls from the same seat against Sonia Gandhi in 2019 and BJP has affirmed confidence in him.

Rae Bareli seat has been a Gandhi family's stronghold. Congress' former chairperson Sonia Gandhi retained the seat in 2019. She, however, won't contest this time as she has been nominated to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Meanwhile, the suspense on Amethi and Rae Bareli -- two Congress strongholds, continues as Congress hasn't announced its candidates for both seats.

In 2019, BJP's Smriti Irani ended Congress' stint from the seat by defeating Rahul Gandhi from Amethi. BJP had announced its candidates for most of the seats in UP, but the announcement for the Kaiserganj constituency was awaited. Both Kaiserganj and Rae Bareli will vote on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. In the 2019 election, Brij Bhushan defeated BSP's Chandradev Ram Yadav from a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes.

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