Brij Bhushan's 'Congress Conspiracy' Remark Resurfaces As Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia Join Party
A video of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's remarks is being shared widely as wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia joined the Congress on Friday ahead of the Haryana assembly elections.
Former BJP MP and Ex-chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, has described the sexual harassment accusation by women as a "Congress conspiracy." Addressing during a smartphone distribution event at a private school on Thursday, Singh alleged that senior Congress leaders from Haryana, Deepender Singh Hooda and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, were conspiring against him. "Whatever I had said on day one, I still stand by it. And today, the same thing is being said by the entire country," he remarked.
#WATCH | Gonda, Uttar Pradesh | Former WFI president and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh says, "When allegations were put against me, I said that it's a conspiracy by Congress, Deepender Hooda and Bhupinder Hooda. I have said it earlier, the country is saying it today. Now,… pic.twitter.com/H7TzdxI1kO
— ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2024
Singh’s remarks came after wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia met with former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. The video is being shared widely a day later as both wrestlers joined the Congress on Friday ahead of the Haryana assembly elections.
Brijbhushan Singh on Vinesh Phogat & Bajrang Punia. pic.twitter.com/jlSvhscT6B
— Being Political (@BeingPolitical1) September 6, 2024
"Now I do not need to say much about this. I will not speak much on this episode, otherwise this thing will reach Haryana immediately. At this time the whole country is waiting for Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to say something on this issue," the former BJP MP also said.
"When the women wrestlers had levelled allegations against me, I had then said that this is a conspiracy of the Congress," he added. "There was a conspiracy against me in 1996 as well. At that time, my wife Ketki Singh had become an MP. I was in Tihar Jail those days as part of a conspiracy. After this, there was a conspiracy against me in 2023 as well. Then my younger son Karan Bhushan Singh became an MP in my place," Brij Bhushan further added.
"Before this incident, no one took a selfie with me. Now after this incident, heroes and heroines also take selfies, even saints and sages are taking selfies," Singh stated during his speech.
Vinesh Phogat Says BJP Stood By Brij Bhushan Singh When Wrestlers Were 'Dragged On Delhi Roads'
After joining the Congress party, Vinesh Phogat stated that the BJP had supported Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, while the Congress along with other parties had stood by the protesting wrestlers when they "were being dragged on the roads" in Delhi. Punia and Phogat were part of the 2023 protest against Singh over sexual harassment allegations.
Previously, Brij Bhushan was also arrested under the TADA law in a criminal case in Mumbai and was lodged in Tihar Jail in 1996. The BJP fielded his wife from Gonda in the Lok Sabha elections, and she was elected. After the women wrestlers' allegations, the BJP did not give him a ticket from Kaiserganj, instead, the party has selected his son, Karan Bhushan Singh, who won the Lok Sabha polls by a margin of over 148,000 votes against SP's Bhagat Ram.