As Telangana polls approach, uncertainty over BJP MLA Raja Singh’s suspension

The uncertainty over Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Raja Singh’s future continues, as the party leadership has not revoked his suspension. Senior BJP leaders in Telangana have been trying to get his suspension revoked in time for the Assembly polls, but the party high command has not budged so far.  He was arrested and also suspended from the party last August after he released a video in which he passed derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammed, which nearly caused communal riots in Hyderabad. The Goshamahal MLA was the lone BJP candidate who won his seat in the previous 2018 state polls.

“We have been trying to get his suspension revoked as most of the BJP leaders in the state unit want him back. However, others like Nupur Sharma have also been suspended by the central leadership for doing the same thing, so they cannot reinstate him alone. We have to wait and see what happens,” said a BJP leader from Hyderabad. The party is expected to release its first list of candidates for the elections in a week’s time.

In the absence of Raja Singh, the Goshamahal Assembly seat, which falls in the Old City area of Hyderabad, will likely go to BJP’s M Vikram Goud. He is the son of ex-Goshamahal MLA and ex-Congress minister Mukesh Goud, who passed away in 2019. Mukesh Goud lost his seat to Raja Singh twice in a row—in the 2014 and 2018 state elections. Vikram was with Congress earlier and switched sides to BJP after his father’s death. 

Another BJP leader from the Telangana unit said that the suspended MLA will be accommodated in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and will likely contest the Zaheerabad seat, if the suspension is not revoked in time for the Assembly elections. 

When contacted, Raja Singh told TNM, “I don’t know when my suspension will be lifted. But I will definitely campaign for the Goshamahal candidate (from BJP),” he added. 

Raja Singh is currently on bail and faces a gag order from the Telangana High Court barring him from making provocative speeches in public. He spent nearly three months in jail after being arrested and detained under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act on August 25 by the Hyderabad police.

Raja Sing’s video showing him pass derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad was released a day after comic Munawar Faruqui was permitted to hold a show in Hyderabad. Faruqui was in fact warned by Raja Singh after the state government accorded permission for his show. The comic had been arrested earlier by the Madhya Pradesh police for allegedly making fun of Hindu gods and spent nearly a month in jail until he was granted bail by the Supreme Court.

Soon after Raja Singh’s video was released, protests broke out in the Old City by Muslims, who demanded his arrest. The Telangana High Court quashed his detention under the PD Act and granted him bail but restricted him from speaking in public. However, that has not been a deterrent, as the legislator has spoken in public outside of Hyderabad on more than one occasion. He has also been booked by the state police in 101 cases, mainly for hate speech and instigating communal violence in the city for over a decade.

At present, he seems to be lying low and is also waiting for the BJP’s central leadership to decide on his suspension. “If he has to be accommodated later in the Lok Sabha polls then he has to be silent,” said the senior BJP leader. In the 2018 state elections, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) stormed to power by winning 88 out of the 119 Assembly seats. The Congress and Telugu Desam Party, which formed an alliance, could only win 19 and two seats each, while the All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen retained its seven seats in Hyderabad.