Hyderabad: Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Saturday wished suspended party MLA T. Raja Singh birthday wishes, indicating that the BJP’s state leadership is working towards lifting his suspension. The Goshamahal MLA was suspended last year after he released a video in which he passed derogatory remarks against the Prophet Muhammad in response to the state government allowing comedian Munawar Faruqui to hold a show in the city.
Raja Singh was arrested after his remarks against the Prophet Muhammad almost caused a major riot. He was jailed under the Preventive Detention (PD) Act. The Goshamahal was also immediately suspended by the BJP’s central leadership immediately after he released the video last year. The MLA was finally given bail by the Telangana high court after spending about three months in jail. He was let out by the court under the condition that he would not participate in any public meetings and would not issue any statements to the media.
Sources from the BJP earlier told Siasat.com that there has been a demand from state-level leaders to revoke his suspension now that Raja Singh is out. However, it may not be as easy as there other BJP members like Nupur Sharma who were also suspended for their remarks on the Prophet Muhammad. Their comments had resulted in international condemnation from Islamic nations and also an embarrassment for the government.
However BJP leaders from here said revoking the suspension may also not be easy. “Nobody here can take a decision. The memo issued was also by the central party leadership. The show cause notice was given by BJP India and not Telangana. I think there is a feeling that a decision must be taken on this issue,” said a party functionary who did not want to be named.
With the Telangana state elections just under six months away, Raja Singh will be hoping for his appeal to get reinstated approved soon.
The BJP MLA was more recently booked after the Ram Navami rally in Hyderabad on March 30 for hate-speech by different police stations. The procession has also become a launchpad for Hindutva mascot and suspended BJP MLA Raja Singh to release new inflammatory ‘songs’ every year. In 2022, he sang a song degenerating Muslims and threatened to “kick” them out of India if they “don’t chant Ram’s name”.
One of his latest songs this year included ‘Baap Tu Baap Rahega’. It was clearly a dig at the ruling government (or even the cops) for arresting him last year and putting him in the jail under the PD Act after he released a video passing derogatory comments against Prophet Muhammad.
The lyrics also make mention his PD Act detention following registration of a series of cases for making derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed in a video and also old cases booked against him for delivering hate speeches. The lyrics goes ‘Jail Ka Taala Tuth Gaya, Baap Tumhara Choot Gaya’. The song is of 5:10 minutes duration.
People who joined Singh’s Hindutva rally waved photos of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, now a beloved Hindutva figure. The Shahinayathgunj police here arrested the man who carried the picture of Gandhiji’s killer, Nathuram Godse, during the Sri Ram Navami Shobha Yatra (rally) on March 30. The accused has been identified as Chinta Hema Kumar, 21, a resident of Siddiqnagar in Gachibowli.
