Suspended MLA Raja Singh to contest Goshamahal constituency on BJP ticket again

Hyderabad: Ending suspense, suspended MLA T Raja Singh announced that he will be contesting from the Goshamahal assembly constituency on a BJP ticket.

Ahead of the Telangana Assembly election, there is a demand to revoke the suspension of Raja Singh.

MLA aspirants from BRS and Congress are eyeing the constituency

All BJP top leaders including Kishan Reddy, and Bandi Sanjay are said to have supported Raja Singh’s candidature.

Speaking to NewsMeter, Singh said, "I will be contesting from Goshamahal assembly constituency. I am confident about revoking my suspension. I hope my name will feature on the list of candidates."

After the Navaratri festival, the BJP will be announcing its first list of 30 candidates on October 15.

Raja Singh was suspended from the party for making objectionable comments against a particular religion. He was jailed for 75 days for allegedly insulting Prophet Mohammed in August 2022.

Although the Telangana High Court granted him conditional bail and directed him not to make inflammatory comments, he continues to spread hate against the Muslim community.

He urged Hindu women not to become friends with "burqa-wearing women", in a clear case of spreading hate against the Muslim community. The video went viral across social media platforms, forcing the BJP to suspend him from the party.

In another meeting at Adilabad, he said, "Whoever has a tilak on his forehead is my brother and a Hindu. I will befriend only people who sport a tilak. Our women, please do not become friends with burqa-wearing women. There was a time when we were under threat from Aftab, but now there is a threat from Ayesha as well. These are the Ayeshas who are introducing [Hindu] women to Aftabs."

Party cadres write to high-command

In the last few days, many of his supporters and followers put up posters on social media and Whatsapp groups demanding the revocation of Raja Singh's suspension.

BJP national general secretary and Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay has written twice to the party's high command to revoke the suspension of Raja Singh. But there was no positive reply from the party high command.

An eye on Goshamahal constituency

Goshamahal constituency is a part of Hyderabad Lok Sabha segment. Lok Sabha segment. AIMIM holds sway in the remaining six constituencies. Raja Singh was elected for the first time in 2014 and re-elected for a second term in 2018. Before 2008, this constituency was named Maharaj Ganj and its legislator was Prem Singh Rathore from BJP He is the only BJP legislator who got a large support from Muslim-dominated areas.

This is the only assembly seat in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, which has never been won by AIMIM.

Who's the MLA aspirant?

In Congress, around 15 leaders have submitted their applications for the Goshamahal assembly seat. They are actively trying to woo the party's high command. Congress has said it would announce its candidate list after Dasara.

Sources said some of the interested candidates who want a ticket from Goshamahal include Congress Fishermen Cell Chairman M Sai Kumar, General Secretary Pradesh Congress Kareem Lala, and General Secretaries Zaheer Lalani and Madhusudan Gupta.

Except for Gupta, all other candidates are plunging into electoral politics for the first time.