There was a message in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann ki Baat Sunday for wrestlers, including Olympian medalists, sitting on dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. They are demanding action against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Wrestling Federation of India president and Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian, accusing him of sexually harassing women wrestlers over the past decade. BJP has maintained a studied silence. It took the Supreme Court’s intervention for the Delhi Police to act on their complaints and lodge FIRs against the Bahubali MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaisarganj.
Modi’s message for protesting wrestlers
In the 100th edition of his monthly radio programme, Modi appeared to have broken that silence—subtly but loudly. It came in the form of the “hundreds of inspiring stories” of women empowerment from “our Army or the sports world”, references to the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao scheme that he had launched from Haryana and the Selfie with Daughter campaign started by a Haryana resident, Sunil Jaglan, who featured in Sunday’s programme and credited Modi for starting “the fourth battle of Panipat to bring smiles on the faces of daughters”. Incidentally, the protesting wrestlers also hail from Haryana.
Of course, Modi made no mention of the wrestlers or their protests in the Mann ki Baat radio programme on Sunday. But the message was unmistakable: his government has a stellar record in women’s empowerment, and it can’t be blemished by the alleged misdeeds of his partymen. Now it is wrestlers’ words versus Modi’s words, full stop.
Thanks to the welfare schemes launched by the Modi government since 2014, as also the PM’s popularity, more women have started veering toward BJP. As per the 2019 Lokniti-CSDS post-poll survey, the percentage of women who voted for BJP increased to 36 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from 29 per cent in 2014. For Congress, the figures stood at 20 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively. Eleven per cent of the women who had voted for Congress in 2014 shifted to BJP in 2019.
If you saw Modi’s roadshow in Bengaluru on Saturday, you might think that recent controversies over the alleged misdeeds of BJP legislators haven’t had much bearing on Modi’s popularity among women. From Magadi Road to Nice Road, I saw groups of women standing or sitting on pavements and waiting for Modi for over two hours. As his roadshow started, many ran excitedly to get a closer look at him.
Aside, Karnataka has had one of the worst records when it comes to the representation of women in the assembly. Its best tally was in 2018, when seven women MLAs were elected to the 224-member assembly.
It’s unlikely to get much better in the next assembly. BJP and Congress have fielded 12 and 9 women candidates, respectively, in this election.
Coming to the Bengaluru roadshow, the enthusiastic response of women only suggests Modi’s popularity among them—or probably their curiosity about him. By no means can it be taken as any indication of a lack of empathy with the wrestlers protesting in Delhi. For all we know, most of them might not even be aware of what’s happening roughly 2,200 kilometres away. I am citing their response only to contextualise why PM Modi putting himself in the front and putting forth his initiatives for women’s empowerment in the Mann ki Baat programme provides a shield to his party and government from the alleged acts of commission or omission by party colleagues like Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Or, for that matter, Haryana minister Sandeep Singh who was accused of sexually harassing a woman coach and continues to enjoy the support of Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and the party leadership.
Also read: ‘Bigger than Olympics’. Wrestlers brave heat, mosquitoes, abuses to mount Nirbhaya-like protest
Brij Bhushan Singh is no saint
That brings us to the question of why BJP should risk alienating or upsetting Modi voters by being seen as defending or condoning the serious alleged crimes of its leaders with silence. Latest allegations aside, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is no saint. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court last week that there were 40 cases against Singh.
Last December, an MP-MLA court acquitted him in a 29-year-old case of attempt to murder former UP minister Vinod Kumar Singh. The court, however, pulled up the investigators for making no effort to collect evidence.
In an interview with The Lallantop last year, Brij Bhushan Singh admitted on camera: “Mere Jeevan mein mere haath se ek hatya hui hai. Log kuchh bhi kahen, maine ek hatya ki hai (I have committed one murder in my life. Whatever people may say, I have committed one murder).”
He spent several months in jail under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) in the mid-1990s for allegedly helping underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s men.
Last year, he even criticised the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government for “shoddy preparations” for floods, saying, “Public representatives are silent. Speaking is disallowed. If you speak, you will be termed a rebel.”
Also read: Roads for training mats & tents for beds — day in life of wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar
BJP has reasons for looking the other way
So, why would BJP continue to protect Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh? He enjoys immense political clout, for sure. He is a six-term MP from three different constituencies – Gonda, Balrampur, and Kaisarganj — and has a following among Rajputs in two-three other adjoining constituencies. He was also part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was an accused in the Babri demolition case. That makes Singh a much sought-after BJP leader. The party may also be conscious of the fact that any action against him may affect its prospects in urban local body elections on 4 and 11 May.
Another reason could be sheer chutzpah or BJP’s over-confidence about its ability to build public perception. No matter the allegations against its leaders, the ruling party chooses to brazen it out, refusing to take any action against them and ignoring public outcry. When there was public outrage over Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, allegedly killing protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2022, BJP simply ignored it. The junior home minister has continued to enjoy the high command’s support. So has Haryana minister Sandeep Singh, following sexual harassment allegations. CM Khattar even called the allegation “absurd” during police investigations.
The party has similarly chosen to look the other way when Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is under fire. A party with a popular prime minister at the helm can probably afford to show disregard for public sentiments against some of its leaders. In an era of transactional politics, party strategists may even feel that a handful of wrestlers alleging sexual harassment won’t have any electoral fallout. As always, PM Modi is willing to stake his own image for the benefit of his party. The big question is whether it will help or hurt BJP in the long run.
DK Singh is Political Editor at ThePrint. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)