Telangana: BJP MLA Raja Singh Refuses To Take Oath With Owaisi As Protem Speaker

Hours before the oath ceremony for Telanaga's new government, BJP's T Raja Singh started a new row. Elected for the third term from Goshamahal constituency, T Raja Singh said he will not take the constitutional oath on Saturday, in protest of appointing AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi as as the Protem Speaker to conduct the house proceedings.

"I am not going to take the oath if Akbaruddin is sitting in the Speaker's chair. Akbar is the product of Qasim Razvi, the head of the Nizam's Razakar army, which massacred Telangana people,'' Raja Singh told the media.

However, any other BJP MLA (7) did not raise any such objection and ready to follow the proceedings.

Akbaruddin Owaisi, a six-time MLA from Chandrayangutta, is one of the senior members of the state assembly and was named by Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararjan as the Protem Speaker to commence the proceedings.

However, Raja Singh's protest is just a symbolic protest against Owaisi as he will hold the post for one day only, and later the house will vote to pick the speaker. A protem speaker is only appointed to administer the oath of office to newly elected members and to conduct voting for a new speaker.

In the recently concluded Telangana Assembly Election Results 2023, the Congress registered a landslide victory by securing 64 seats in the 119-member house. The grand old party dethroned KCR's Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) which managed to bag only 39 seats. The BJP came third with eight seats, while AIMIM won seven seats. One was clinched by the CPI.