WFI protests put BJP in a tight corner

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh might have been asked to step aside, but the BJP would not want to abandon the six-time MP given that national polls are in 2024

There’s scope for a film script here. A woman wrestler takes on a powerful chief of a federation, and appears to prevail.

The 2016 Aamir Khan-starrer film Dangal tells the true story of amateur wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat, who trains two of his daughters, Geeta and Babita, to become professional wrestlers. There can now be a sequel to it, about how Mahavir Singh Phogat later adopts his niece Vinesh Phogat and trains her, and she goes on to win two world championship medals including a gold at the Asian Games. The climax of the film could be about Vinesh Phogat leading wrestlers in a protest against the powerful chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), who has been accused of sexual harassment and mental torture by the sportspersons.

It’s a potential blockbuster because the WFI chief is himself the sort of figure that has inspired characterisation in Hindi cinema. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is today one of the strongest Bahubalis (muscleman) of Uttar Pradesh. He is a strongman with a criminal record, and a six-term MP, five times as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and once with the Samajwadi Party (SP). Although the official version is that the WFI chief has ‘stepped aside’ while the charges are being investigated, the BJP will not want to upset Singh lest he leaves the party.

Also Read: Why it won't be easy for BJP to act against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh

Influential Singh

The BJP has been winning elections, national and state, but in Uttar Pradesh it is a tough fight, and the Opposition can always skew the game in select seats. Indeed, in recent byelections in Uttar Pradesh, the SP alliance won two contests even though the BJP threw it’s all; the ruling party just managed a very controversial win in Rampur under questionable circumstances of many citizens not being allowed to vote.

As Uttar Pradesh is the backbone of the BJP’s numbers in Parliament, in a year leading up to a national election, it would want to play to the gallery of moral outrage without entirely alienating Singh. His influence extends over many parts in eight districts, particularly in Gonda, Kaiserganj, and Ayodhya.

How Musclemen Emerge

How do politicians such as Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh emerge? There are sociological reasons for musclemen thriving and crossing over into politics in both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. First, both states have endemic unemployment and industrialisation is limited. Typically, a successful don may emerge after executing a few murders and kidnappings for a ransom, and/or start getting pay offs from local shopkeepers for protection from another gang or even wings of the State. The strongmen operate within a bandwidth that ensures that they are seen as individuals who can deliver while opposing them can invite retribution.

As they become stronger, the dons also start bidding for and getting public works department (PWD) contracts in their regions. They know how to grab land, and have in the past been known to get into the business of facilitating companies get acquire land for erecting mobile phone towers; the spin-off is that some history-sheeters typically have companies that provide Internet facilities and power backup. There is, of course, the lucrative business of being part of the sand mafia, which illegally extracts sand from riverbeds. There are tracts of Uttar Pradesh, where those engaged in illegal sand mining operate with the blessings of strongmen politicians.

Giving protection to politicians and rallying people to vote in a certain way are also skills that politicians use, and in the process of doing so they empower these strongmen. Instead of seeking political patronage, these men often become politicians themselves, and join the party is in power. The result is that the politicians end up seeking their patronage, and the process comes full circle.

Next, these Bahubalis acquire respectability by running educational institutions — precisely what Singh has done, and is currently credited for establishing around 50 such, from schools to colleges that teach engineering to law.

More Rounds Left

It’s an irony that someone arrested in the 1990s under TADA for giving protection to members of the Dawood Ibrahim gang, is now seen as a benefactor of education. In December 2021, Singh slapped a wrestler on stage — this will help in understanding the politicians manner of functioning. Some of the most infamous dons of Uttar Pradesh have been Thakurs, such as Raja Bhaiyya, Dhananjay Singh, Brajesh Singh, and Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

We are yet to hear the last of the current protests against the WFI chief. The protesting wrestlers have got into the ring with the sort of individual that many chose not to cross. It will also be interesting to see how the ruling BJP handles it as the issue of public humiliation has enraged Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh who has tried to project the episode as a lobby of athletes from Haryana working under the Congress’ instructions.

Saba Naqvi is a journalist and author.

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