Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party legislator T Raja Singh on Sunday said he will not take oath in the presence of pro-tem Speaker Mumtaz Ahmed Khan who belongs to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen as the party is “against Hindus”.
The newly-appointed MLAs will take oath on January 17, which is the first day of the new Assembly’s first session following the Assembly elections. Khan is set to take oath as the pro-tem speaker at the Raj Bhavan on January 16.
In a video message, the MLA from Goshamahal said that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao should review the decision to appoint Khan as the pro-tem speaker. “The Telangana chief minister, who is a follower of Nizam [the erstwhile ruler of Hyderabad state], and the MIM took a decision at night to make an MIM MLA the pro-tem speaker,” claimed Singh. “I will not go to the Assembly and take oath in his presence. Other party leaders may go, but I will not.”
Singh said he would refuse to take oath in the presence of Khan whose party claims to “finish off Hindus, wages war in the country by not singing Vande Mataram or chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.” The legislator added that he will consult legal experts on rules regarding oath-taking.
Singh, known for making controversial statements, had said that only politicians begging for votes hosted Iftar parties for Muslims and claimed that he would work to get the Quran banned in the country.
While Rao’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi won 88 seats out of 119 in the Assembly elections last month, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen won seven and the Bharatiya Janata Party only one.
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