Our God, Our Lord, our Darling. Bhushan Bhushan Sharan Singh” ― Nivedak, “Saansad Bhakt” Samrat Gupta (Keep Samrat Gupta to our Lord, our God, Honorable MP Brij-Heartfelt birthday wishes from Bhushan Sharan Singh).
A poster in the Pascal Bazaar area reads: Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency (see picture).
Delhi court declares sexual harassment case against former President of the Indian Wrestling Federation (WFI) – presented by some female wrestlers after long and hard-fought campaign – failed to resonate among voters in Kaiserganj where polls are scheduled for May 20.
After days of speculation about Brij Bhushan’s candidature from Kaiserganj, the BJP on May 2 announced his younger son Karan Bhushan Singh as a candidate for this seat who is just 33 years old.
Singh’s victory margin has gone up from nearly 80,000 votes in 2014 (against the Samajwadi Party’s Vinod Kumar) to 261,000 votes in 2016 against Chandradev Ram Yadav of the Socialist Party of the Philippines.
Karan intends to carry forward his father’s legacy. “If ‘netaji’ (Brij Bhushan) had played in this tournament we would have concentrated on final win percentage. But things could be different now that he is no longer directly involved,” said Ram a farmer from Kutubpur village under Kol assembly segment. Ram Avtar Gautam added.
Three out of five assembly constituencies within the Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency i.e. Katra Bazar, Colonelganj and Tarabganj are located at Gonda which is also home town of Bhushan where he won LS elections of both 1991 and 1999 and Kaiserganj fall in neighbouring Bahraich district).
Apart from Kaiserganj, BJP has won the rest four assembly seats in the 2022 State elections.
But for the Singhs, it would be a piece of cake that has now turned complex. sajwadi party President Akhilesh Yadav ousted Bhagat Ram Mishra from the seat. He is backed by fellow Brahmins, who constitute a significant portion of the electorate and also claims strong support from minority communities. Mishra is elder brother of Shravasti Zira Panchayat president and former BJP MP Dadan Mishra.
While Karan is likely to put up a good show in the three Gonda seats due to high presence of brahmin as well as minority population in Balaich, Mishra may offer a tough challenge to him instead. As a matter of fact, when BJP’s Daddan Mishra became zila panchayat president, unopposed in Shravasti in June 2021, Brij Bhushan was standing by his side.
Bhagat Ram Mishra got up on an open truck followed by several SUVs and waved to people on his way to Tarabganj. Shyam Lal Rawat (70) who retired as Major Subidar from army in 2001 still existed there. “At least a dozen villages in Tarabganj have been electrified during last five years; this happened under leadership of Prime Minister Modi. I don’t think it will be easy for anyone to challenge Brij Bhushan’s dominance here anymore since SP candidate belongs to Balaich,” said Rawat from Kindhaura gram sabha.
The outsider nature of Narendra Pandey (47), the BSP candidate from Indira Nagar in Lucknow, is supposed to limit his influence in the constituency. The only woman contestant Arunima Pandey (48) among the three independent candidates comes from Gomti Nagar in Lucknow too. With direct contest between BJP and Samajwadi Party, Singh family will be on field for 10-12 hours while BJP members are spread across different areas to target maximum voters.
Madan Gopal Pandey (71) of Tulsiram Purwa village in Sisamau said: “A lot of efforts have been made by Brij Bhushan and his family. Evidently, they have got many people who do not want them to continue.
Local contestants don’t matter for Kalavati of Gauvarkud village in Katra Bazar assembly area. According to her words, “Whichever candidate Modi and Yogi would support, it’s me.”
Nankau Sharma (57), a carpenter said: “Netaji (Brij Bhushan) can work well over five districts(Gonda, Balaich, Balrampur, Shravasti and Ayodhya). They will get their answers in June.”
The same opinions were expressed by Sagheer Ahmed (67), a mason from Ahmed Nagar area near Katla Bazar. “Brij Bhushan has so much power.” Also he told that Prateek Bhushan(36), Singh’s eldest son was MLA from Gonda twice. “Even he goes extra mile for success of his younger son,” he said.
