Telangana: BJP’s MLA-elect Raja Singh says he will not take oath if AIMIM’s Owaisi is pro-tem Speaker

“The Congress has issued a special government order stating that everyone will take oath in front of Akbaruddin Owaisi, whom it refers to as the illegitimate child of Qasim Razvi. I held the same stance in 2018, refraining from taking an oath in front of an AIMIM leader, and I will maintain that decision now,” Singh said.

He accused the Congress and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of toeing the BRS line.

“When the BRS assumed power, a major error was made by entrusting the control of their ‘car’ to the AIMIM. Now, they have encroached on the government lands. They reside in Telangana and pose harm to Hindus,” he alleged while questioning how leaders could take the oath while Owaisi administers it.

“Revanth said during the election the Congress alleged that there was a secret pact between the BRS, AIMIM, and the BJP. Now, you explain the connection between the AIMIM and your party. There were other leaders you could have chosen, but the decision to select Owaisi appears to have been made to appease the minority community,” he further said.

#Telangana: @TigerRajaSingh says till he is alive he won’t take oath in the presence of newly named pro-term Speaker @AkbarOwaisi_MIM.

Alleging it as Congress’ step to appease minorities, he adds all @BJP4Telangana
MLAs will take oath from new speaker.@TheSouthfirst #Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/r69Yy1uqcs

— Ajay Tomar (@ajaytomarasks) December 8, 2023

Related: Akbaruddin Owaisi named pro-tem Speaker in Telangana Assembly

Meeting with Kishan Reddy on Saturday

Raising doubts over the Congress’ alignment with the AIMIM, he accused Reddy of trying to curry favour with the minorities by appointing Owaisi as the pro-tem speaker. He asserted that none of them would take the oath in front of the AIMIM leader, and instead, they would do so on the second day, after the Assembly elects the Speaker.

In 2018, when the Assembly proceedings commenced, Charminar MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan was elected as the pro-tem speaker. Even then, the sole BJP MLA, Singh, refrained from taking the oath. He took the oath the next day after Pocharam Srinivas Reddy took charge as the Speaker.

“Tomorrow, we have plans to meet our state president G Kishan Reddy. After the meeting, we will collectively decide whether or not to attend the Assembly for the oath-taking ceremony,” BJP MLA-elect Payal Shankar told South First.

BJP spokesperson NV Subhash told South First that after meeting G Kishan Reddy, all elected members of the BJP will visit the Bhagyalakshmi temple. “After the meeting, we will determine further course of action,” Shubhash said.