Uttam Kumar Reddy demands MLA's ouster from Assembly

Hyderabad: Welcoming the arrest of suspended BJP MLA Raja Singh under PD Act for his derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammed, Congress MP & former TPCC President N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday demanded that Raja Singh's membership from Telangana Assembly be cancelled.

"It is completely outrageous that the BJP MLA made derogatory remarks against the religious head of a community and tried to get away easily. This is not acceptable in any civilised society, any modern country and 21st century India," Uttam alleged in a media statement on Thursday.

Accusing the TRS government of shielding Singh, he said the suspended BJP leader should've been arrested under PD Act long back and his membership in Telangana Legislative Assembly should have been terminated for his communal and anti-Constitutional acts. However, Raja Singh is still enjoying the patronage of the BJP and support from the TRS government, he said .

The Congress leader said that the Telangana Police calls itself the best in the country and deploy all resources to track the activities of opposition leaders. But they failed to notice a provocative video uploaded and circulated by the BJP MLA. It should've booked a 'suo moto' case against Singh within hours after he uploaded the controversial video. However, he said Hyderabad Police came into action only after protests erupted in different parts of the State. Further, he said a weak FIR was registered and due procedures were not followed in the arrest. Consequently, Raja Singh got bail within a few hours after the arrest, he said.

Uttam urged Telangana Assembly Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy to terminate the membership of Raja Singh as MLA under Article 194 and other relevant provisions. "TRS, BJP and MIM must restrain from using communal violence as a tool to gain political mileage. This will spoil the image of Brand Hyderabad and affect everyone in the long run," he said while appealing to the youth to maintain peace and prevent themselves from being used as a tool by some communal politicians.