From being a Telugu Desam corporator five years ago, T. Raja Singh has taken a huge leap forward. First, he shifted to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and then decided to take the plunge and contest the general elections from Gosha Mahal Assembly constituency.
Known for his aggressive stances against the Majlie-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), he had trounced two-time sitting legislator and ex-Minister M. Mukesh Goud. Step into his Mangalhat office and anyone can understand that he is an extremely religious man as the office is dotted with photos of gods, goddesses, and RSS ideologues adorning the walls.
And, Raja Singh’s table is already filled with public grievances even before he had officially entered the Telangana Assembly. “I will change the face of my constituency within a year,” he says, chanting the development ‘mantra’ and vows not to discriminate against any citizen in terms of religion, caste or creed.
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“Whether it is a Muslim, Hindu or Christian, those who stay in my constituency are my responsibility and I will look after them. People say I help only the Hindus, but that is wrong,” he averred and makes no bones about his political enemy, the MIM for practising, what he calls as “communal politics”.
Yet, when it is pointed out that the same accusation is made against him, he claims he had “never spoken against the Muslim community” as such, as his main battle was only against the MIM and its leaders. The new MLA, however, makes it very clear that he is for protection of the cows and every effort will be made to prevent their slaughter.
Posters about his cow protection campaign are all over. “My request to our Muslims brothers is to stop cow slaughter. If they do that, then the problems between Hindus and Muslims will automatically stop. I will also do everything I can to stop that from happening,” he says.
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Mr. Singh also promises to work ‘200 per cent’ with MIM leaders provided they “change their ways”’. “In the name of minority protection, they take so much money from their own people for admission into their colleges. Even cost of treatment in their hospitals is so high, that the poor can’t afford it,” he alleges.