T'gana MLA held for remarks on Prophet, suspended by BJP

Asked To Explain Why He Should Not Be Expelled

- Sribala Vadlapatla

Hyderabad: BJP suspended and slapped a show-cause on party MLA T Raja Singh within hours of his arrest on Tuesday over a since blanked-out video in which he purportedly made some remarks alluding to the Prophet, igniting protests in pockets of Hyderabad's old city alongside a business shutdown.

The suspension notice, signed by BJP's central disciplinary committee member Om Pathak, gave the Goshamahal MLA 10 days to explain why he shouldn't be expelled from the party. The episode comes two-and-a-half months after BJP suspended national spokesperson Nupur Sharma and ousted its Delhi media cell head Naveen Kumar Jindal for their remarks on the Prophet. Unlike Raja, neither of the duo is an elected representative.

Raja got bail late Tuesday from the court of the additional chief metropolitan magistrate on technical grounds.

His lawyers argued that Hyderabad Police didn't follow guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court, to serve notice before arrest to the accused under Section 41A of CrPc.