Will not contest polls if BJP doesn't revoke suspension, says Raja Singh

Hyderabad: The Goshamahal MLA and suspended BJP leader Raja Singh has made it clear that he won't be in fray in next Telangana Assembly polls if the party does not lift the suspension.

The MLA said that he never caused any harm to the party.

It is to mention here that Raja Singh was suspended after a issue that was triggered following his comments against Prophet Mohammed. Though, he replied to the show-cause issued by BJP, his suspension has not been revoked so far.

Now, as the Telangana Assembly is scheduled to be conducted in the current year, Raja Singh is confident that the suspension will be revoked.

However, sources said that the BJP state leadership reportedly interacted with some members of the Lodh Kshatriya community, which Raja Singh belongs to. Sources said at least two members of the community had evinced interest in contesting the elections this year from Goshamahal if the party gives them a ticket.

Nevertheless, community elders, however, said they don't want any conflict in the community over politics.

Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held at the end of this year for 199 constituency seats. In the last assembly elections, the main parties were Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Indian National Congress (INC), and BJP.

After the polls that were held nine months earlier that the scheduled date, TRS which is now BRS formed the government by winning 88 seats out of 119 improving its seat share by 25.

In the polls, the seat share of INC decreased from 21 to 19 whereas, AIMIM managed to win seven seats.

Meanwhile, BJP which tried hard to form a government in the elections managed to win only a single seat. Only Raja Singh won from the Goshamahal Assembly constituency. The party's seat share dipped from five to one.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered against Raja Singh for alleged hate speech in Maharashtra's Latur city.

He has been accused of delivering an inflammatory address to create communal tension, at an event on February 19 to celebrate the birth anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, an official said.

The official said that the Shivaji Nagar police station on Monday booked Singh under Indian Penal Code sections, including 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence and language).