News9 Live: Telangana: BJP’s anti-KCR tirade falls flat as Raja Singh crosses the line on Hindutva rhetoric

By Prof K Nageshwar / News9 Live

Raja Singh’s sudden outburst has drifted the people’s attention away from the BJP’s latest spell of anti-KCR tirade targeting the TRS supremo’s family.

BJP cadre had hit the roads in protest against the arrest of state party chief Bandi Sanjay Kumar and the abrupt brakes the TRS government tried to impose on his walkathon ‘Praja Sangraama yatra’. On the contrary, the BJP has not officially protested against the arrest of its legislature party leader and the Hindutva mascot in Telangana, MLA Raja Singh over his communal remarks. The party has even suspended him. This contrast brings to the fore the great dilemma of the saffron brigade in a state it hopes to conquer.

This is not the first time Raja Singh has made such communally surcharged remarks. He is known for it. Perhaps, his aggressive Hindutva helped him to win the 2018 assembly elections even though all the other four BJP MLAs including veterans like G Kishan Reddy and Dr. Laxman lost. However, the party’s tally rose to 3 after it wrested Dubbak and Huzurabad seats from TRS in by-elections. His unique position in the saffron parivar is the reason for the BJP’s hesitation to replace him with Eatala Rajender as legislature party leader, though the latter was formerly a senior minister in KCR’s cabinet. Despite enjoying such a special position in BJP, Raja Singh not only faced suspension but also did not receive the party’s support when the TRS government arrested him. The BJP has not officially backed Raja Singh’s call not to allow Munawar Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad.

In the show-cause notice issued to Raja Singh, the BJP central disciplinary committee accused Raja Singh of expressing views contrary to the party’s position on various matters which violated the constitution of the BJP. Surprisingly, no such action was initiated against Raja Singh on many occasions when he made similar communal comments. He is not alone in the BJP parivar to make objectionable comments. During the elections to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), several BJP leaders ranging from Tejasvi Surya to Yogi Adityanath to Amit Shah, have indulged in high voltage communal rhetoric. The state party chief Bandi Sanjay too made objectionable remarks like the demand to dig up mosques. Why is Raja Singh now singled out? What explains this stand of the BJP vis-à-vis Raja Singh?

Raja Singh anticipated such action from the BJP high command. He has even said that ‘Dharma’ prevails over politics for him and doesn’t mind even if the party suspends him if his comments are unpalatable. Thus BJP is caught in a dilemma over Raja Singh’s actions. In the wake of the Nupur Sharma episode, the BJP central leadership doesn’t wish to trigger another round of international outcry over comments by saffron leaders. BJP is now the ruling party whose government led by Narendra Modi is assiduously cultivating many Muslim rulers across west Asia. This is imperative for the government of India. India imports 80% of its crude oil requirements. Nearly two-thirds of India’s oil imports are from the gulf nations. Lakhs of Indians work in Arab nations and any backlash would hurt their livelihoods which will have serious consequences at home. The foreign remittances sent by these Indian workers in the gulf significantly contribute to India’s foreign exchange reserves besides playing a critical role in the economies of certain states like Kerala. Muslims at home may be dispensable in the BJP’s scheme of things. But, Muslim nations are indispensable for BJP-led India’s diplomacy .

This story was originally published in news9live.com . Read the full story here