INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
LUCKNOW: Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP Kaiserganj MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh announced Sunday he would contest
the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from the same seat without specifying if it would be the same party.Brij Bhushan made the statement while speaking
"BJP will win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh and form the government once again at the Centre in 2024," Brij Bhushan said
The saffron-clad Brij Bhushan arrived at the rally in a huge convoy and a 25km roadshow that was seen as a virtual show of strength and made
a speech in which he did not delve into the charges of sexual harassment from some top wrestlers, other than two couplets on his predicament
at the start and end of his address
Brij Bhushan has represented Kaiserganj since 2009 as a six-time MP, five of them on a BJP ticket
Just before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, he had switched to Samajwadi Party
He won the election but went back to BJP before the 2014 polls.At a rally in Gonda - part of the Kaiserganj constituency - to mark nine
years of the Narendra Modi government, Brij Bhushan listed various welfare schemes of the Modi government and hit out at past Congress
governments for "conspiring to halt the verdict" in favour of the Ram temple
He recalled how he was put behind bars during the 1975 Emergency imposed by the Indira Gandhi government.Brij Bhushan accused Congress of
being responsible for Pakistan and China encroaching on swathes of Indian territories
"This would not have been possible had there been a BJP government," he said to a grand welcome on stage.Earlier in the day, Brij Bhushan's
roadshow started from his residence at Vaishno Harpur and spanned all the way to Raghuraj Sharan Singh Degree College (owned by Brij
Bhushan himself) in Colonelganj, where the rally was organised
The Colonelganj assembly seat is represented by BJP MLA Ajay Singh, who is believed to be a close associate of Brij Bhushan.The roadshow,
comprising a long cavalcade of SUVs, witnessed surging crowds, with Brij Bhushan emerging occasionally from the sunroof of his vehicle to
wave at cheering supporters who greeted him with garlands and a shower of petals - some of which he flung back at the throngs.Sources said
the roadshow was catalysed by support from a host of BJP MLAs, not only from Gonda but also from some of neighbouring districts, including
Bahraich, Shrawasti and Balrampur.Last week, a poster of the rally mentioning Brij Bhushan as the "aayojak (convener)" of the rally and
Madhya Pradesh higher education minister Mohan Yadav as chief guest of the event was released.Brij Bhushan had appealed to all current and
former BJP MLAs under the Kaiserganj parliamentary constituency, his supporters, party workers and BJP office-bearers to attend the event
Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary had arrived in Gonda on Saturday and reviewed preparations for the rally.Earlier, Brij Bhushan
had reportedly been rebuked by BJP after he called a rally in Ayodhya on June 5 as part of a show of strength
He later claimed he cancelled the rally as the harassment allegations against him were being heard in the Supreme Court.
