Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s recent remarks span personal political equations, public disputes, religious issues and a decision to stay out of elections.
However, the BJP did not field him in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections following allegations made by six female wrestlers. Karan Bhushan Singh won the seat and continues to serve as its Member of Parliament.
His latest comments on Thursday, describing his relationship with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav as “personal” while ruling out contesting the upcoming elections, came a day after Yadav said several MLAs from the BJP-led ruling camp were in touch with the SP. News agency PTI reported that Singh said he and Yadav were related, that he had earlier been an MP from the SP, and that his praise for the SP chief was “not political”. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s remarks came after Akhilesh Yadav, on Wednesday, said that “many” MLAs from the ruling camp were in contact with the SP but that the party did not want to make promises it could not fulfil. Yadav also said his existing alliance would continue and that winnability would be the basis for seat allocation, according to PTI. Last month, he claimed to know about alleged misuse and theft of donations but said he was not in a position to disclose details, adding that he could speak if the circumstances allowed.
A six-time Lok Sabha MP, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has represented three parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh’s Devipatan region. Instead, the party nominated his son, Karan Bhushan Singh, from Kaiserganj. Against that backdrop, Singh’s clarification that he remains in the BJP while Yadav is an SP leader offered a distinction between his personal equation with the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and formal political alignments. Singh has also made cryptic remarks concerning the controversy over alleged irregularities in Ram Temple donations in Ayodhya.