Former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh has been included in the Uttar Pradesh BJP’s state executive committee ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. The appointment marks his first inclusion in the party’s state-level executive panel, according to the report.

The committee was constituted on October 26 by Uttar Pradesh BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary ahead of a meeting scheduled in Lucknow to discuss the party’s organisational work and preparations for the state elections.

Singh, a former president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), had largely remained away from the BJP’s organisational activities following sexual harassment allegations made by women wrestlers. His inclusion comes nearly three months after a Delhi court acquitted him in the case, although the acquittal has since been challenged.

First inclusion in the state executive committee

Despite his long political career and influence in eastern Uttar Pradesh, Singh had not previously been given a position in the BJP’s national or state organisational structure, according to party sources cited in the report.

A BJP leader described his appointment as the first time Singh had been made a member of the state executive committee. Six other BJP leaders from Gonda district have also been included in the panel.

The expanded committee has 712 members, including 134 special invitees and 30 permanent invitees, according to the report. The previous state executive committee had 184 members.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been included as a permanent invitee from Varanasi. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and former BJP national president Murli Manohar Joshi are also among those included in the panel.

BJP had dropped Singh from the 2024 Lok Sabha race

The BJP did not field Singh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections amid the sexual harassment allegations against him. Instead, the party nominated his younger son, Karan Bhushan Singh, from the Kaiserganj constituency, which Brij Bhushan had represented previously.

Karan Bhushan Singh won the seat in his first election. During the campaign, Brij Bhushan Singh confined his campaigning to Kaiserganj and urged voters to support his son, describing the outcome as a response to those he said were attempting to end his political career.

A senior BJP leader quoted in the report said the party had denied Singh a ticket in 2024 because of the allegations. The leader added that the court’s acquittal could allow him to participate more actively in party programmes.

However, any decision about a future Lok Sabha nomination would depend on the party’s leadership.

Acquittal challenged by women wrestlers

On August 3, a Delhi court acquitted Singh in the sexual harassment case involving six women wrestlers. The allegations had triggered widespread protests by prominent wrestlers in 2023 and put the BJP under political pressure.

The acquittal has been challenged by four of the women wrestlers. According to the report, a Delhi court on October 28 gave Singh a week to respond to their appeal.

The legal challenge remains relevant to the case’s status, even as Singh’s inclusion in the state executive signals his return to the BJP’s formal organisational structure.

BJP prepares for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh elections

The state executive committee meeting in Lucknow is intended to discuss the BJP’s organisational roadmap ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address the opening session, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is set to address the concluding session, according to the report.

The expanded panel includes leaders from across Uttar Pradesh, with Varanasi and Gorakhpur among the districts with the highest representation.

Singh’s appointment comes as the BJP prepares its organisation for the next Assembly election, while his legal case and political role remain subjects of public and political attention.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a swipe at the Congress on Wednesday after the party failed to win any seats in Legislative Council by-elections held across four states. Referring to the use of ballot papers in the elections, the Prime Minister questioned the party’s performance in the contests.

The by-elections covered 28 Legislative Council seats across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Congress contested 12 seats, including four that it had previously held, but failed to secure a victory in any of them, according to the reported results.

The setback was particularly notable in Karnataka, where Congress is in power but did not win any of the four Legislative Council seats contested in the state.

What PM Modi said about the MLC election results

In a post on X, Modi referred to the elections held across the four states and highlighted that ballot papers had been used for voting.

“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” the Prime Minister wrote.

He accompanied the post with a monocle emoji, adding a mocking tone to his question about the party’s performance.

The reference to ballot papers came amid the Congress’s broader objections to electronic voting machines and its demands for a return to paper ballots. Modi’s post drew attention to the party’s failure to win any of the seats it contested in these particular elections.

Congress draws a blank across four states

The Legislative Council by-elections covered constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka.

Congress contested 12 of the 28 seats but could not secure a win. Four of the seats it contested had previously been held by the party.

Karnataka emerged as a significant setback for Congress, which governs the state. The party failed to win any of the four seats contested there.

The overall outcome provided the context for Modi’s remarks, which linked the election results to the use of ballot papers rather than electronic voting machines.

Why the ballot paper reference matters

Congress has raised concerns about the use of electronic voting machines and called for a return to ballot papers. Modi’s post drew a contrast between those demands and the party’s performance in elections conducted using paper ballots.

However, the results of these Legislative Council by-elections relate to the specific seats contested across the four states. They do not, by themselves, establish any broader conclusion about the integrity of other elections or the merits of different voting systems.

The Prime Minister’s remarks were a political swipe at Congress following its performance in the MLC bypolls.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has won all four seats in the Karnataka Legislative Council elections, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing three seats and its ally Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), winning one.

The results are a setback for the ruling Congress, which failed to win any of the four seats contested in the elections held on October 23.

The contest was closely watched as a test of coordination between the BJP and JD(S), which fought the elections as alliance partners. The outcome also drew attention to the Congress’s support among voters in teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies.

BJP wins three seats, JD(S) secures one

The BJP won the North-East Teachers’ constituency, the South-East Graduates’ constituency and the West Graduates’ constituency. The JD(S), meanwhile, won the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency.

The Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency contest was particularly significant because the JD(S) candidate, A P Ranganath, defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna. Ranganath had previously contested the constituency against Puttanna, who had switched to the Congress before the previous Assembly elections.

The results demonstrated the electoral outcome of the BJP-JD(S) alliance in these four constituencies. However, the results alone do not establish how the outcome will affect the parties’ performance in future state-wide elections.

BJP leader targets Congress government

Reacting to the results, BJP leader Ashok Gowda described the outcome as a success for the NDA and criticised the Congress government in Karnataka.

“This is a success for the NDA and all the narratives spread by the Congress have been exposed,” Gowda told media.

He also alleged that the Congress government had failed in the state and claimed that the results reflected public dissatisfaction with the ruling party.

These remarks were Gowda’s political assessment of the election outcome and should be understood as statements by a BJP leader.

Election tests BJP-JD(S) coordination

The elections were seen as an important test of whether the BJP and JD(S) could coordinate their campaigns and consolidate support behind their respective alliance candidates.

The JD(S) was allocated the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency, while the BJP contested the other three seats. The alliance’s victory across all four constituencies gave both parties a favourable result in this round of Legislative Council elections.

The Congress, which governs Karnataka, did not win any of the four seats. Nevertheless, the Legislative Council results should be distinguished from a state Assembly election, as the contests involved specific teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies rather than the entire electorate.