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How Brijbhushan Singh taps his popularity and religious-caste identity

- PUJA AWASTHI

BRIJBHUSHAN SHARAN SINGH is something of an all-season fruit, having surmounted personal, political and criminal challenges through his career.

Just one example is enough to illustrate his somewhat inexplicable popularity. When he was in jail on charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, the BJP gave a Lok Sabha ticket to his wife Ketki Devi Singh from Gonda in 1996. She polled 28,000 more votes than her husband—sympathy maybe, but more likely misplaced respect for a man who has the image of a staunch Hindu leader. In 1992, he had proudly declared himself as one of those behind the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In another lofty moment, an admirer described him as L.K. Advani’s charioteer.

Over the years, Singh further crystallised this image as a committed leader of the party in north India. His popularity stretches from Ayodhya to Gonda, with Balrampur and Kaiserganj thrown in. Last year, the Kaiserganj MP announced that five lakh people would congregate in Ayodhya on June 5 to protest the visit of Raj Thackeray. Two things stand out. One, the rally was organised on June 5, the birthday of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Two, much ahead of the set date, Thackeray had announced his decision not to make the trip, alleging that the ruling BJP might try to get him and his party workers in trouble. Singh’s rally itself was a damp squib, with the most optimistic estimates putting the turnout at 10,000. But the optics were perfect—a north Indian politician had scared off a rival who had made many a disparaging remark against people from the state.