BHOPAL: Controversial BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh and former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has said some unidentified “powers are attempting” to block the path of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the “country needs him for some more time.”
He made this statement during an interaction with press reporters at Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain on Friday. Singh offered prayers to the Jyotirlinga of Lord Shiva along with state higher education minister Mohan Yadav.
Singh said he came here as Mohan Yadav invited him to Ujjain during his visit to Gonda, the home town of Singh.
The BJP MP from Kaiserganj, Singh (65), found himself at the centre of sexual harassment allegations by India's most decorated women wrestlers, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik.
When asked by reporters that he is in trouble due to the sexual harassment charges against him, Singh replied, “mujhe koi problem nahi hai” (I have no problem).
Singh was on a two-day visit to Madhya Pradesh. On Thursday, he was in Indore where he addressed a gathering of ‘Karni Sena’, saying that “serious allegations were made against him but he did not show a glimpse of embarrassment on his face.”
A six-term MP – five as a BJP member and once, in 2009, as the Samajwadi Party candidate – Singh has represented Gonda and Balrampur in the past, and now Kaiserganj. His son Prateek Bhushan is a two-time MLA from Gonda Sadar.
Meanwhile, on Friday, a Delhi court granted a one-day exemption from personal appearance to Singh in connection with the sexual harassment case.
The court had recently granted bail to Singh, and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, who appeared before the court on Friday.