Hyderabad: Congress leaders demanded that BJP MLA T. Raja Singh be booked under the Preventive Detention Act for hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community.
Former minister Mohammed Ali Shabbir, in a media statement, demanded that the state government take action in all the pending cases against Raja Singh and ensure that he gets exemplary punishment. He called the BJP suspending Raja Singh a “big drama,” similar to the one enacted in the case of Nupur Sharma, who, Shabbir Ali said, has enjoyed complete protection from the ruling party despite her suspension.
Demanding tough action against Raja Singh, former Congress MP V. Hanumatha Rao demanded that a law should be enacted to ensure that public representatives are barred from contesting elections if they incited communal hatred. He said that if the government failed to act tough it would set a bad precedent, particularly in run-up to the Munugode bypolls. “Had Nupur Sharma been booked under criminal cases, this would have been avoided. Even what TRS MLA, Shakeel said earlier cannot be tolerated,” Hanumantha Rao said.
G. Niranjan, PCC senior vice-president, said such statements just ahead of the Ganesha Chathurthi festivities could rouse communal passions. “The Assembly should be convened immediately for the impeachment of Raja Singh,” he demanded.
TPCC minorities department chairman Shaik Abdullah Sohail claimed that Raja Singh was known figure in the city for spreading hatred through his provocative statements but the TRS government never took action against him.
