The BJP may have denied a ticket to MP Brij Bhushan from Kasganj, but they couldn’t escape his influence in the area. Ultimately, the party had to field his wrestler son, Karan Bhushan Singh, as the candidate from Kasganj. The complete reason behind not being able to emerge from the shadow of BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is also significant. It is said that if the BJP doesn’t give a ticket to his family from Kasganj, they could spoil the equations on several surrounding seats. In addition, the BJP has also fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh, who contested against Sonia in 2019, from Rae Bareli.
Brij Bhushan’s influence is evident on several Lok Sabha seats.
Brij Bhushan Singh has represented the Kasganj constituency of Gonda district in the Lok Sabha six times. He holds influence in Gonda and several surrounding districts. He directly impacts four to five Lok Sabha seats. His influence is such that his decisions are followed from district panchayat elections to assembly polls in many districts. He owns a helicopter, through which he reached several districts for campaigning during the previous assembly elections.
Initially a wrestler, Brij Bhushan Singh entered politics through student activism and then through the politics of sugarcane associations. He joined the BJP in 1989 and was actively involved in the Ayodhya movement. He became an MP for the first time in 1991 after winning the Lok Sabha elections. After that, Brij Bhushan Singh won the Lok Sabha elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014, and 2019. In 2009, when there was some controversy within the BJP, he left the party. After that, he won the elections from Kasganj on the ticket of Samajwadi Party in 2009.
The dissatisfaction of the Kshatriyas is also a reason.
Even from the first phase of elections, it was being said that the Kshatriyas are unhappy with the BJP. Kshatriyas from western UP to Purvanchal held their separate meetings. This dissatisfaction began after the ticket of VK Singh was cut from Ghaziabad. Since then, there has been continuous dialogue between the BJP and Kshatriyas. If this time Brij Bhushan or his family is not given a ticket, it would also have an impact on the seats in Awadh and send the wrong message among the Kshatriyas.
For this reason, the BJP fielded Kshatriya candidates in both Rae Bareli and Kasganj.
Karan is contesting elections for the first time.
Karan Bhushan, the chairman of the Cooperative Rural Development Bank in Nawabganj and the state president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association, is contesting elections for the first time. Karan, who studied business management in Australia, has previously been a national athlete in double trap shooting. He has also served as the vice-president of the Indian Wrestling Federation.
Dinesh Pratap Singh gave a tough fight to Sonia Gandhi.
In the Uttar Pradesh government, Minister of State for Horticulture, Dinesh Pratap Singh, had given a tough fight to Sonia Gandhi in 2019. This time too, the BJP has placed its trust in him. In 2014, Sonia Gandhi had won by a margin of 3.52 lakh votes. In 2019, when Dinesh Pratap Singh switched from the Congress to the BJP and was made a candidate, Sonia Gandhi’s margin decreased. Sonia Gandhi could only win by a margin of 1.67 lakh votes.