Failing successfully:

The BJP state election campaign committee chairman and former health Minister Eatala Rajender, the seven-time MLA, lost to his arch rival P. Kaushik Reddy of the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) in Huzurabad Assembly constituency by a margin of more than 16 thousand votes. Notably, in May 2021, Rajender had been expelled from the BRS party over land grabbing allegations in Medak district, after which he joined the BJP and won the 2021 by-election. As per the allegation, the land of some farmers was encroached by Jamuna Hatcheries, a company owned by his wife, in Hakimpet in the Gajwel Assembly segment. Notably, a total of 40 criminal cases have been filed against Rajender which involve Covid-19 protocol and election code violations and unlawful assembly, as per a report of Times of India.

Dubbak MLA M. Raghunandhan Rao also lost his seat to a BRS candidate and Medak MP K. Prabhakar Reddy by more than 53 thousand votes. He had been elected from Dubbak in a by-poll held in the year 2020. As per the affidavit filed by Rao, a total of 27 cases are pending against him. In February 2020, a 47-year-old woman had accused Rao of raping her in 2007, when he was an advocate, after which a rape case was filed against him. More recently, in June 2022, the Hyderabad Police had registered a case under Section 228 (disclosure of the victim’s identity) of the Indian Penal Code against Rao after the legislator had revealed a few images and videos connected to a minor’s gang rape in Hyderabad in June 2022.

The BJP lost another crucial seat in a keenly fought electoral battle from Karimnagar Assembly seat where BRS’ candidate Gangula Kamalakar won by 4 thousand votes, defeating the BJP national general secretary and OBC leader Bandi Sanjay Kumar. Kumar’s name was a regular on headlines, having been accused of paper leaks and malpractice. The BJP MP also had a slew of anti-minority hate speeches to his name. As per a report of the Indian Express, in May of this year, Kumar had delivered a hate speech demanding that mosques across the state should be dug up and if Shivlings were found beneath them, then the sites should be handed over to Hindus. A few months prior to the state election, Kumar had been removed as BJP state President a few months ago and replaced by Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy.

It is essential to note that during the recent state election cycle, on October 17, 2023, Citizens for Justice and Peace had moved the Election Commission of India as well as the Telangana State Election Commission against an election speech delivered by BJP national general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar. In the said speech, made on October 10 in Adilabad district of Hyderabad, Kumar had made communally inflammatory and violence promoting comments. The complaint had highlighted that through his speech, Kumar has not only used manipulative and defamatory words against the AIMIM (All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen) party, but also made communally inflammatory remarks to promote violence against Muslims as well as raised calls for conducting encounters.

Meanwhile, Arvind Dharmapuri, who had previously defeated BRS’ K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha in the Lok Sabha elections from Nizamabad, lost to Kalvakuntla Sanjay, who is also from KCR’s family. He lost by a whopping margin of ten thousand votes. In June 2022, Dharmapuri had been booked for hate speech by the police under Section 505 (1)(c) of the IPC for abusing the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. It had been alleged that Sharmapuri had used abusive words against the incumbent CM to degrade the Government’s image, to develop hate and create an unlawful atmosphere, which demanded legal action. As per a report of Newstap, he had called KCR a liar and a criminal and had threatened to “kill him and his hens”. In November 2022, as per another report of Newstap, the residence of Dharmapuri had been allegedly attacked by a mob of people after he had made certain provocative statements against KCR’s daughter Kavitha.

Raja Singh and his legacy of hate swims him through:

BJP leader T Raja Singh, known for targeting the Muslim community and raising the flag of Hinduvta in the otherwise peaceful and harmonious South, came to power for the third time in Goshamahal, which falls under Hyderabad’s Old City. The controversial leader scored a hat-trick from his constituency by defeating Nand Kishore Vyas of BRS and Congress’ Sunitha Rao, securing 80,182 votes in all and 21,457 more than his closest BRS competitor. It seemed that the decision of the party to revoke the suspension of the leader and seeking votes on the basis of his polarising speeches worked after all.

It is essential to note here that on October 22, 2023, a statement was released by the BJP reinstating Singh and revoking his suspension based on his reply to the show cause notice issued to him by the Central Disciplinary Committee. In his response to the secretary of the BJP disciplinary committee Om Pathak, Singh had promised not to do anything that brought disrespect to the party. He had further alleged that he had ‘never criticised Muslims’. As per a report of the Print, party insiders had alleged that Bandi Sanjay Kumar had a hand in bringing Singh back into the fold.

Notably, during the state election cycle, two complaints had been sent by CJP against Singh, seeking action against his corrupt conduct. In the first complaint, sent on October 25, CJP had approached the ECI, highlighting the hate speeches delivered by Singh in Gujarat during the Garba festivities which were aimed at instigating disaffection, spreading misinformation, peddling conspiracies and promoting violence against religious minorities. In the other complaint, sent on November 14, CJP had complained against a hate speech delivered by Singh in his own constituency during an election rally. The said speech had shown Singh indulging in the corrupt practices of promoting enmity between different communities/faiths, raising calls for violence and spreading misinformation to gain votes.

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The post Telangana State Elections: Polarising voters doesn’t yield results for BJP, key leaders lose seats appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Kumar had delivered the impugned speech while addressing a gathering at the Jana Garjana Sabha. He had stated that, “Modi’s rule must come in Telangana, so that those who attacked Hindu society and created destruction in Bhainsa, and the people from AIMIM who raped minors, are stripped and chased down the streets.” In furtherance to calling to the memoirs of riots, Kumar also raised calls encountering and burying those in Pakistan who do not chant ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai.’ He had also remarked that: “Those who are hoisting Pakistan flags instead of chanting Bharat Mata ki Jai should be killed in encounters and buried in Pakistan.”

The complaint highlighted that through his speech, Kumar has not only used manipulative and defamatory words against the AIMIM (All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen) party, but also made communally inflammatory remarks to promote violence against Muslims as well as raised calls for conducting encounters. The divisive words uttered by Kumar make it a clear case of hate speech aimed at instigating disaffection, spreading misinformation and promoting violence against minorities.

As per the complaint, the speech by Kumar stands in violation of all equality and non-discrimination provisions (secular and democratic values) enshrined in the Constitution of India and also amounts to the offences defined as “corrupt practices” under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Clause 3A of Section 123 of the RPA provides that ) The promotion of, or attempt to promote, feelings of enmity or hatred between different classes of the citizens of India on grounds of religion, race, caste, community, or language, by a candidate for the furtherance of the prospects of the election of that candidate will amount to corrupt practices.

The complaint also provided the controversial statements made by Kumar in the past to emphasize that he is a repeat offender who consistently indulges in making statements that are violent in nature, usually aimed at gender and religious minorities, and are averse to the values of a secular, socialist and democratic country. With this, the complaint demands for strict action to be taken against Bandi Sanjay Kumar along with direction for issuance of an unconditional public apology and retraction for his utterances in Hyderabad.

The complaint also urges the ECI to issue a notice to the state and national party in chief of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as this conduct of one of its own elected representatives puts a responsibility on any party that participates in elections held under the mandate of the Indian Constitution to honour and follow its mandate as laid down in both the Preamble and Fundamental Rights (Chapter III).

The complete complaint can be read here:

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The post BJP leader delivers communally inflammatory election speech, CJP moves ECI appeared first on SabrangIndia.