Ending weeks of speculation, the BJP on Thursday named Karan Bhushan Singh as its Lok Sabha candidate from the Kaiserganj seat in Uttar Pradesh, replacing his father and incumbent MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing criminal charges of sexually harassing women wrestlers.
The party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, a Gandhi family bastion which was won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi five consecutive times.
Sonia Gandhi is now a Rajya Sabha MP and the Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the seat.
While Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh may have been denied the ticket, the fact that the seat’s contest remains within the family shows how influential the Thakur leader and six-time MP is in the region and the party.