Telangana MLA Raja Singh Quits BJP, Says He Was Kept Away From Race For State Unit President

New Delhi: Expressing his disappointment over the BJP's reported choice to lead its Telangana state unit, MLA T. Raja Singh, who is known for making communally charged statements, said on Monday (June 30) that he has decided to resign from the saffron party.

Singh also claimed that party members whose support he planned to enlist in order to nominate himself to the post of BJP state president were “intimidated and made to run away”, a charge that the party has denied.

The MLA, who represents the Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad, wrote to incumbent state unit president and Union minister G. Kishan Reddy saying he had decided to resign as a ‘primary member’ of the BJP because he felt let down by the course the saffron party's Telangana wing has been taking.

Media reports saying that former MLC N. Ramachander Rao was on track to assuming the state unit presidency had come as a “shock and disappointment” to him as well as “lakhs of karyakartas [party workers], leaders and voters”, Singh said in his letter.

“Unfortunately, it appears that some individuals, driven by personal interests, have misled the central leadership and taken decisions by running the show from behind the curtain,” he continued.

But even though he is leaving the party, he remains “fully committed to the ideology of Hindutva and the service of our dharma and the people of Goshamahal”, Singh also said.

Speaking to ANI, Singh said that the roughly ten people whose support he would need to nominate himself to the post of state president were “intimidated and made to run away”.

The state BJP denied the allegation, with spokesperson Rani Rudrama claiming that Singh resorted to speaking ill of the party after he was given an opportunity to file a nomination but was unable to secure signatures from ten state council members in line with party rules.

Singh also said to ANI that although there were calls for an “aggressive” president to assume the state unit's reins following discussions involving workers from the booth level to the leadership, it appeared that the selection process had been ‘predetermined’ by some within the party.

“Here in Telangana, the politics of Hindu-Muslim fraternity does not work. In Telangana only Hinduism works,” Singh said in Hindi before bemoaning the alleged intimidation of his ten potential signatories and saying that “some people” were “coiled around the party like a snake” and needed to be ‘treated’ by its central leadership.

Singh had expressed his discontent over the party's functioning earlier this year citing disagreements over his choice for district-level leaders, following which the state leadership said he was out of line.

Following his suspension from the party for more than a year starting August 2022 over his alleged remarks about Prophet Muhammad, Singh was reinstated ahead of the 2023 Telangana assembly election, in which he retained his Goshamahal seat with 54% of the vote.

Accused in a number of cases of engaging in hate speech, Singh often makes communally charged statements, and has also called for making India a Hindu nation.

According to some media reports, former MLC Ramachander Rao could become the BJP's Telangana unit chief.

If he is chosen to lead the state BJP, Rao would replace the relatively moderate Kishan Reddy, who in turn replaced firebrand MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar months before the 2023 assembly election.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.