“Kaiserganj Lok Sabha se chunav ladunga, ladunga, ladunga (I will contest the election from Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency),” Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the sidelined Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament, said on Sunday, 11 June, while addressing a rally.
This was the first rally held by Singh since India’s top wrestlers began a protest to raise sexual harassment allegations against him.
The rally was held at a college run by Singh in Kaiserganj constituency, in the Katra area of Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda district.
While Singh did not directly speak about the wrestlers' protest, he began his speech with the lines, “Yeh mila mujhko muhabbat ka silla, bewafa kehke mera naam liya jata hai. Isko ruswai kahen ki shohrat apni, dabe hontho se mera naam liya jata hai (This is the reward I have received for my love, they call me unfaithful. Call it notoriety or fame, they take my name with pursed lips),” Indian Express reported.
Sunday’s rally was part of the BJP’s outreach programme launched to mark the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi-led government. Similar rallies have been organised in all 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh.
To read about the key allegations against Singh, click here.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)