Even as Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav is maintaining a conspicuous silence on the controversy over the harassment allegations against Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian and chief of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Mainpuri MP and Akhilesh’s wife Dimple Yadav has demanded a fair probe into the case.
Akhilesh Yadav is usually quick to target the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh on issues ranging from “encounters” to the case of the Sarus crane but he has maintained silence on this issue. His alliance partner and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary has visited the dharna site at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
Brij Bhushan, who has denied the allegations against him, lavished praise on former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav last week for not siding with the ongoing protest by wrestlers.
“I want to thank Akhilesh Yadav. I have known him since his childhood,” he told media persons on April 30. “I am elder to him. Though there are political differences between us, Akhilesh knows the truth.”
Brij Bhushan is a six-time Lok Sabha member from Gonda, Kaiserganj and Balrampur constituencies. He presently represents Kaiserganj in Lok Sabha.
Sources in SP said that with the 2024 Lok Sabha elections looming, the party was in a wait-and-watch mode over the wrestlers’ allegations against Brij Bhushan.
When asked about the SP’s stand on the issue, party chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary chose to dwell on the rising tide of crime against women, including in Hathras and Unnao, and said that law and order had collapsed in UP.
“Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is only indulging in talks of hatred. Look at what happened in Prayagraj — a government-sponsored crime (apparent reference to recent killing of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf),” he said.
“Nobody is interested in talking about the rise of LPG prices and the plight of the poor.”
Rajendra Chaudhary denied speculation that the WFI chief would join the party. “There is no substance in such rumours. He is in the BJP and the BJP is trying to protect Brij Bhushan,” he said.
A senior SP leader said that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was still an important player in some constituencies and this fact could not be denied.
“The party will not make a clear statement on the matter, at least till the time he is arrested. If he evades action, Brij Bhushan will keep his options open, especially since he has been an MP of the Samajwadi Party in 2009,” the leader said.
Mulayam Singh Yadav had inducted Brij Bhushan into the party in 2008 after he was expelled by the BJP when he cross-voted during that year’s trust vote in Parliament over the Indo-US nuclear deal. Mulayam Singh Yadav had also brokered a compromise between Brij Bhushan and his friend-turned-foe Pandit Singh (a former minister in the Akhilesh Yadav cabinet) despite the latter alleging Brij Bhushan’s involvement in a near-death attack on him.