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Controversial Telangana BJP MLA Thakur Raja Singh Lodh was arrested on Tuesday for remarks allegedly directed against Prophet Mohammed, the Hyderabad police said. Hours later, the BJP suspended the MLA.
Singh made the remarks in a video while attacking stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who recently performed in the city. While Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiya and Tiger Raja, tried to defend it as a “comedy video”, saying he made no mention of the Prophet, police registered cases against him after protests by Muslim organisations.
The police also threw a security cordon in Goshamahal, Mangalhat and Dhoolpet areas.
A two-time MLA from Goshamahal, the 45-year-old Singh has a huge following in his constituency and surrounding areas in Hyderabad, especially as a fierce “gau rakshak”. In the December 2018 Assembly elections, amidst a pro-Telangana Rashtra Samithi wave, he was the only sitting BJP MLA out of total five who retained his seat. Among those who lost were G Kishan Reddy (now a Union minister) and current Rajya Sabha MP K Laxman.
Singh released the video ahead of Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad, threatening to disrupt it, leading to his house arrest. Faruqui, who had been arrested in Madhya Pradesh in 2021 on a complaint of insulting Hindu deities, held a show in Hyderabad on August 21, with the TRS administration’s full backing. On August 19, the police had cancelled his show in Bengaluru, reportedly over failure to take permission.
A member of the Bajrang Dal, Singh entered politics in 2009 as a TDP municipal councillor from Mangalhat. Ahead of the 2014 general elections, he joined the BJP and was successful in wresting the Goshamahal Assembly seat from the Congress.
Singh often claims that his forefathers settled in Hyderabad decades ago and used to make idols of gods and goddesses for a living, and that he continued the family business. He earlier ran a shop out of the family home selling audio and video cassettes, but later wound it up and started a domestic electrical wiring works business.
The BJP MLA has more than 75 FIRs against him, mostly related to hate speeches, violation of curfew orders, and disruption of law and order. He often issues statements or puts up social media posts threatening those who oppose the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
In September 2020, Facebook had banned Singh saying it was being done “for violating our policy prohibiting those that promote or engage in violence and hate from having a presence on our platform”.
Singh has said in the past that he is willing to do anything to prevent cow slaughter, and that he and his gau rakshaks “hailing from all Hindu castes” had saved thousands of cows in Hyderabad.
In July 2018, Singh said that Bangladeshis and Rohingya living in India should be forced to leave the country at gunpoint.
In June 2019, he suffered head injuries when police resorted to lathicharge to stop a bid by him to put up a statue of freedom fighter Rani Avanti Bai Lodh, reportedly without permission.
Sources in the BJP said party leaders do not always agree with what Raja Singh says or does. “He makes his own decisions. He hardly meets or confers with party leaders and remains aloof. Senior leaders tolerate him because he is a loyal member of the party,” a BJP functionary said.
The latest row though was tough to wish away for the BJP, with the Modi government having battled diplomatic heat over similar remarks by spokesperson Nupur Sharma (since suspended) on the Prophet.
