Political compulsions force BJP to not act against Brij Bhushan Singh

It makes no political sense for BJP to appease female wrestlers while angering those with electoral weight, with muscle power, money, and caste influence

As in the farmers’ agitation in 2020-21, the Narendra Modi government is unable to act decisively now in addressing the allegations of sexual molestation by women wrestlers against a party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. Eventually, the government unconditionally withdrew the three farm laws enacted by Parliament. But such capitulation to mounting public pressure is unlikely where the women wrestlers’ demands are concerned.

The International Olympics Committee and the United World Wrestling, the international body governing amateur wrestling, have criticised the mistreatment of the protestors and demanded speedy investigations into the allegations against Singh. The BJP’s women ministers, like Meenakshi Lekhi and Smriti Irani, can be seen literally running away from media questions about the women wrestlers, on TV. Despite the adverse publicity it seems that the ground is being prepared to clear Singh’s name.

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Already, with Singh’s third term as chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) ending, the demand for his resignation till investigations are complete has become infructuous. He claims that his third-term as WFI chief, which started on February 24, 2019, has ended. Singh had made it clear that he would much rather face an investigation than resign as a “criminal”.

Two FIRs have been registered against Singh after the Supreme Court’s intervention. One is about outraging the modesty of women wrestlers — including groping, inappropriate touching, and physical contact. The other concerning allegations by a minor wrestler, has been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The penal provisions are more serious in this complaint as bail is not easily granted under the POCSO Act. However, the Delhi Police sources have claimed to NDTV India that the complainant was not a minor when she filed the FIR. Allegations that the age of the complainant was fudged is a classic defence strategy in such cases.

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This is not the only statement made by the Delhi Police which suggests that it may be pulling its punches against the investigation of Singh. A Delhi Police official told the media that the police had not found sufficient evidence to arrest the WFI chief. However, it backtracked when the news was telecast by TV news channels with the Delhi Police tweeting that the news was “totally wrong” and that the “case is still under investigation and a proper report will be placed in the court only after complete investigation.” Subsequently this tweet was also deleted.

Meanwhile, Singh feels sufficiently emboldened by the political support he enjoys to organise a huge rally at Ayodhya on June 5 against the provisions of the POCSO Act. He claims that 1.1 million Hindu saints and seers will participate in the rally to protest misuse of the law as “this law is being misused against children, the elderly and seers.”

The heads of some religious organisations in Ayodhya have come out in support of Singh declaring that just as innocent “saints, mahants and political persons” were harassed, Singh was also being falsely implicated under POCSO. One might also recall that the courts found Hindu ‘seer’ Asaram Bapu, who had many prominent Gujarati politicians among his followers, guilty of raping a teenager. He was convicted under the POCSO Act. A former MLA of the BJP, Kuldeep Singh Sengar has also been convicted of raping a minor and jailed under the POCSO Act.

Cold political calculation suggests that the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) cannot afford to neutralise Singh. As a six-term MP he can not only win his own seat comfortably, but can also influence the outcome of several other adjoining constituencies in Eastern Uttar Pradesh. As a Thakur, the BJP leaders believe he can influence the Rajput vote in the state. The 50-odd educational institutions he owns and controls in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, add to his electoral influence. Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of MPs to Parliament, is crucial to the re-election of the BJP government in 2024, and every constituency and powerful MP from the state counts for more than his weight as the general election approaches. The BJP needs Singh more than he needs the party.

The public mood, however, seems to be swinging in favour of the women wrestlers, especially after the spectacle of brutal police action against them on May 28. Celebrated as national heroes, the Indian public has never seen its Olympians and other award-winning athletes, especially women, brutalised like this. Nor can they fail to sympathise with video-grabs of the dejected sports icons threatening to immerse their hard-won international medals in the Ganges.

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Their plight resonates across wide sections of society. Jat farmers are agitated because their sons and daughters look to physical sports such as wrestling as a means of upward social mobility and government employment. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has come firmly forward in their support. But even the middle class is sensitive about the danger sexual predators pose to young career women. They might wonder if women sports icons are not safe from their bosses, then who is?

The government’s calculation may be that the women wrestlers and their supporters are not BJP voters. It makes no political sense for it to appease them while angering those with electoral weight — in terms of muscle power, money, and caste influence.

Singh may then be protected for the same reasons that the establishment protected Ajay Mishra Teni, MP from Kheri in Uttar Pradesh and Minister of State for Home Affairs, who had threatened agitating farmers and whose son was accused of running over them. Teni was seen as an important Brahmin leader in a state where the Brahmins were said to be angry with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (a Rajput).

Singh is believed to be an alternative influencer of the Rajput vote in the state. Both Singh and Teni are strongmen or ‘Bahubali’ leaders and most political parties, including the BJP, value such politicians. If it acts against Singh, then electoral setback in parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh may be staring it in the face.

(Bharat Bhushan is a Delhi-based journalist.)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.