After Ayodhya snub, Brij Bhushan Singh plans show of strength in his LS constituency

Sources close to Singh said that speakers at the rally would seek to attribute the protest against the firebrand BJP MP to his attempts to encourage wrestlers from UP

Amid growing outrage and demand for his arrest, Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faces allegations of ''sexual assault'' by some female wrestlers, plans to hold a rally at Karnailganj in his Lok Sabha constituency of Kaiserganj in Uttar Pradesh's Baharaich district, on June 11.

Although Singh, who was earlier denied permission to organise a rally in the temple town of Ayodhya on Monday, said that June 11 rally was being organised to mark completion of nine years of BJP government at the centre, sources close to him said that the MP would use the rally to showcase his "popularity among the people of his constituency."

''BJP leadership has asked every MP to hold a big event in his constituency on the occasion of completion of nine years of the party government at the centre.....the rally is part of the same,'' said a close aide of Singh on Sunday.

Preparations were being made for the rally in which a large number of saints and seers from the neighbouring temple town of Ayodhya were also likely to take part and declare their support for the beleaguered saffron party MP.

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Sources close to Singh said that the speakers at the rally would seek to attribute the protest against the firebrand BJP MP to his attempts to encourage wrestlers from UP. A prominent Ayodhya based seer had said that Singh was on the target of the wrestlers as he wanted to promote the wrestlers from his home state.

It was not clear if Singh would be given permission to hold the rally. Sources close to him said that the MP was 'furious' with the state government for denying him permission to hold the rally at Ayodhya and that he was not inclined to take the 'rebuke lying down'.

Political experts had opined that denial of permission to Singh to hold the rally at Ayodhya was an indication that the saffron party was wary of the possible fallout of the wrestlers' protest, especially in the Jat dominated Western UP region which the party had swept in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

BJP leaders admitted that Singh was not the kind of person who would take any action against him in his stride. That he had earlier been with other parties and might not hesitate to ditch the saffron party made it even harder for the party to act against him.

Barely a few days back Singh had claimed support of Samajwadi Party (SP) president Ahilesh Yadav on the wrestlers' protest issue saying that the latter 'knew' the 'truth' ''I have known Akhilesh since childhood.....he knows the truth.....80 per cent wrestlers from UP believe in socialist ideology,'' Singh had said.