Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is an Indian politician from Bharatiya Janata Party who is currently serving as the member of parliament from Kaiserganj.

Early life and education

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was born on 8 January, 1957, to Shri Jagdamba Sharan Singh and Smt. Pyari Devi Singh. He studied law at the Awadh University

Political career

He is a six time Member of Parliament, five times from BJP and one time from Samajwadi Party. In 1991 he was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha from Gonda constituency in Uttar Pradesh as Bharatiya Janata Party candidate. He was re-elected to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999 from the same constituency and in 2004, he was re-elected to 14th Lok Sabha from Balrampur constituency in Uttar Pradesh state on the BJP ticket. On 20 July 2008, he joined the Samajwadi Party after BJP expelled him for cross voting in the parliament during the 2008 Lok Sabha vote of confidence. In 2009, he was re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha from Kaiserganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh state. He later joined the Bharatiya Janata Party months before the 16th general election and is currently member of 17th Lok Sabha from BJP. He is the President of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

Controversies

As of March 2023, he has over 40 FIRs against him, for criminal offences including robbery, causing voluntary harm to public servants, illegal carrying of arms and even attempt to murder.

Demolition of Babri Masjid

In 1992, He was involved in Babri Masjid Demolition Case, due to which he was arrested by CBI along with 39 other people. He being the prime suspect, was later given clean chit by Supreme Court Of India in 2020.

Later, he boasted, "During the movement, I was the first person from the area to be arrested by Mulayam Singh. I was also the first person arrested by the CBI after the controversial structure was demolished."

Connection to the Underworld

He was charged with TADA in 1992 for helping Dawood Ibrahim in organizing J.J Hospital Shootout. For killing the shooters who killed Dawood's brother in law. He was later released in 1999.

Confession of murder

In an interview with the web portal The Lallantop in 2022, he confessed to murdering the person who shot dead his close friend Ravinder Singh.

President of Wrestling of India

While serving as a president of Wrestling Federation of India, in an interview with The Indian Express, he said, “They (wrestlers) are strong boys and girls. You need someone strong to control them. Is there anyone stronger than me here?”

In 2021, during a junior wrestling tournament, he slapped a wrestler on stage which was caught on camera.

In Jan 2023, a group of Olympians and international wrestlers including Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and others organized a sit in demanding disbanding of the federation due to sexual harassment of female wrestlers by Brij Bhushan. The protests resumed in April 2023 due to government inaction. The protestors demanded police file an FIR against Brij Bhushan and his immediate arrest. The incidents of sexual harassment cited by protestors ranged from 2012 to 2022. On 28th April 2023, after the intervention of the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police registered two FIRs against him. One of the FIRs was registered under the POCSO Act (The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012) for offences against a minor. A second FIR was registered on similar grounds on the complaint of a few adult female wrestlers.