Who is Karan Bhushan Singh, BJP's pick for Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency?

The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), which is eyeing its third consecutive victory in the Lok Sabha elections, announced Karan Bhushan Singh as its pick for the Kaiserganj seat on Thursday (May 2). Karan is the son of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief and sitting MP from Kaiserganj.

Brij Bhushan has been representing a key Uttar Pradesh constituency since 2009, and the recent pick is seen as a major shuffle by the senior BJP leaders due to controversy surrounding the former WFI chief.

There was a lot of suspense on Brij Bhushan’s seat this time after the alleged sexual harassment accusations by several female wrestlers, including ace medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia.

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In 2019, Brij Bhushan secured 5.81 lakh votes, while BSP's Chandradev Ram Yadav got over 3.19 lakh votes and Congress candidate Vinay Kumar Pandey got 37,132 votes.

Kaiserganj is set to vote on May 20 in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls.

Karan is Brij Bhushan's younger son, while his elder son, Prateek Bhushan Singh, is already the BJP MLA from Gonda (Sadar) assembly constituency. Karan has been a national player in the Double Trap shooting category.

He has completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and law from Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, Faizabad. In addition, Karan Bhushan has a diploma in business management from Australia.

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At present, Karan is the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association. He is also Chairman of Cooperative Bank, Nawabganj, Gonda district.

On BJP's decision to field his son Karan as its candidate from Kaiserganj, the tainted former WFI chief said he was thankful to the party.

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"I thank the party for this, everyone is excited in the area about Karan contesting the election," he said.

Brij Bhushan has been a six-time MP from Kaiserganj. He also runs about 50 private educational centres in and around his constituency. Before stepping down as the WFI chief due to sexual harassment allegations by wrestlers, he was the president of the body for nearly a decade.