BJP drops Brij Bhushan, fields son from Kaiserganj Lok Sabha seat

The party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli, a Gandhi family bastion, won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi five consecutive times.

While Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh may have been denied the ticket, the fact that the seat's contest remains within the family shows how influential the Thakur leader and six-time MP is in the region and the party.

The BJP Thursday named Karan Bhushan Singh as its Lok Sabha candidate from the Kaiserganj seat in Uttar Pradesh, replacing his father and incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

The former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) is currently facing allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him by six women wrestlers.

The move retains the seat’s contest within the family highlighting the influence of the Thakur leader and six-time MP in the region and the party.

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Meanwhile, the ruling party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli constituency, which was won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in 2019. Sonia, who won from the Gandhi family bastion five consecutive times, was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed from Rajasthan earlier this year.

Thursday’s announcement comes even as the Congress continues to take an unusually long time to name its candidates for the traditional Nehru-Gandhi family seats of Amethi and Raebareli. Sources claim the party leadership wants both Rahul and Priyanka to contest and has not shortlisted any other name for the two seats as last-minute discussions are on full swing.

The deadline to file nominations for Amethi and Rae Bareli is on Friday. These seats are going to polls in the fifth phase, on May 20.

With PTI inputs

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