The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to revoke the suspension of Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh and allot him the same seat again for the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls slated to be held on November 30, TNM has learned. The controversial legislator, who has been booked in over 100 cases – many of which involve communal offences – was suspended by the BJP’s central leadership last year for passing derogatory comments against Prophet Mohammed which triggered widespread protests in Hyderabad.
The BJP’s Telangana unit is also expecting its first list of candidates for the Assembly elections to be released in the next two days or so. Party leaders say they are expecting to see Raja Singh’s name in it, as his followers have been demanding that he be reinstated.
“The list will be out on or before Dasara (October 24), as it will be released on an auspicious date. Three lists are expected, and the first one may have Raja Singh’s name in it, meaning that his suspension is also revoked,” said a BJP leader from Telangana. Given that Raja Singh has been under suspension, BJP leader M Vikram Goud, who quit the Congress and joined the saffron party a few years ago, was expecting to contest from the Goshamahal seat.
Vikram’s father Mukesh Goud, who was a state cabinet minister in previous Congress governments, lost the same seat to Raja Singh in the 2014 Telangana Assembly elections. Mukesh Goud passed away in 2018.
Raja Singh had earlier said that he would support anyone else who would be contesting from the BJP in Goshamahal if his suspension is not revoked. He is currently out of prison on bail granted by the Telangana High Court, which last year also quashed his detention under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act. This after he was booked by the Hyderabad police over a video in which he passed comments against Prophet Mohammed.
Raja Singh made the remarks as a counter to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government allowing stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui to hold a show in Hyderabad in August 2022. Raja Singh had opposed Munawar Faruqui’s performance, claiming that the comic had insulted Hindu gods. Raja Singh spent nearly three months in jail after his detention. His comments inflamed tensions, as many Muslim youth took to the streets to protest against him. The High Court also granted him bail on the condition that he would not post any derogatory content on social media.
Raja Singh was the only person from the BJP who managed to win in the 2018 Telangana Assembly elections. The BJP contested the polls alone, as its long time partner, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), had broken ties over the Union government not giving Andhra Pradesh Special Category Status. The TDP had gone with the Congress for the first time in its history. The results were disastrous, as the ruling BRS won 88 out of 119 seats, while the Congress and TDP won 19 and two seats respectively.