Raghuraj Pratap Singh

Kunwar Raghuraj Pratap Singh (born 31 October 1969), locally known as Raja Bhaiya, is an Indian history-sheeter politician[3] accused of several crimes[4][5][6] including the murder of an IPS officer.[7][8] He is currently an MLA in the 18th Uttar Pradesh Assembly from his native local assembly constituency Kunda on Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) ticket, winning the seat since 1993.[9]

"Raja Bhaiya" redirects here. For the 2003 Indian film, see Raja Bhaiya (film).

Raghuraj Pratap Singh
Member (MLA) of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
Assumed office
1993
Preceded byShiv Narain Mishra
ConstituencyKunda
Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, Jail
In office
2004–2007, 2012–2017
Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Prantiya Vikas Dal
In office
1999–2000, 2000-2002
Minister of Programme Implementation
In office
1997–1999
Personal details
Born
Kunwar Raghuraj Pratap Singh[1]

(1969-10-31) 31 October 1969
Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Political partyJansatta Dal Loktantrik (2018–present)
Other political
affiliations		Independent (1993–2018)
Spouse
Bhanvi Kumari
​
(m. 1995)​
Children4 (2 sons and 2 daughters)
Residence(s)Kunda, Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh[2]
Alma materUniversity of Lucknow (1989)
ProfessionPolitician
NicknameRaja Bhaiya
As of 25 April, 2015

Early life and education

Raja Bhaiya was born on 31 October 1969 in Kolkata, West Bengal in a Rajput family.[1][10][11] His father is Uday Pratap Singh and hails from the royal Bhadri (estate) of Oudh. His grandfather Bajrang Bahadur Singh was the founder vice-chancellor of Pant Nagar Agriculture University and later the second governor of Himachal Pradesh state.[2] Raghuraj was the first in his family to enter politics; his father is largely a recluse.

Bajrang Bahadur Singh had no child, so he adopted his nephew Uday Pratap Singh as his son.[2]

Raghuraj Singh graduated from University of Lucknow in 1989.[12] He married Bhanvi Kumari Singh on 15 February 1995, with whom he has two sons and two daughters.[1][10] Singh is an agriculturalist by profession.[12]

Political Carrer

In the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, he was overwhelmingly elected from Kunda with a margin of nearly half the votes cast[13] over Shiv Prakash Mishra of the Bahujan Samaj Party. He had stood as an Independent.

He also wields considerable influence over five assembly constituencies in the Pratapgarh region, as well as some in neighbouring Bihar. In election rallies in this region where he is present, the actual candidate may never speak or even be mentioned in his speech; "they are all shadows. Raja Bhaiya, alone, is the substance."[14] After the 2007 elections, when Mayawati swept to power with a majority, Raghuraj again came under the police radar.

In the 2017 Assembly election, Raghuraj Pratap Singh defeated his opponent Janki Sharan from the Bhartiya Janata Party by a huge margin of 103,647 votes and acquired 136,597 votes in total. On 16 November 2018, Singh announced he is forming his own party, the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik.[15]

In the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, Singh representing Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) defeated Samajwadi Party's Gulshan Yadav by a margin of 30,315 votes, acquiring a total of 99,612. Singh has consecutively been elected as the representative of Kunda assembly for the seventh time in 2022.[16][17]

Controversies and conflict

Jailed under POTA in 2002

In 2002, on an FIR filed by a dissident Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Puran Singh Bundela of alleged kidnapping and threatening with dire consequences, got Raghuraj arrested on the orders of then Chief Minister Mayawati at the early hours about 4:00 a.m. of 2 November 2002. Later Mayawati-led government in Uttar Pradesh declared him a terrorist, and he was sent to jail under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), along with his father Uday Pratap Singh and cousin Akshay Pratap Singh.[18] Subsequently, Akshay managed to get bail, but Raghuraj's pleas were rejected many times.[19]

From jail to cabinet minister

Within 25 minutes[20] of the Mulayam Singh Yadav's government coming to power in 2003, all POTA charges against him were dropped. However, the Supreme Court debarred the state government from dismissing POTA charges.[20]

Eventually the POTA Act was repealed in 2004, and although the court again refused to release Raghuraj.[21] He subsequently became a powerful man in the government, and was accused by police officer R.S. Pandey (who led the raid on his house) of having launched a vendetta against him.[22] Eventually R.S. Pandey was killed in a road accident,[23] which is currently being investigated by the CBI.[24]

In 2005, he became the minister for Food and Civil Supplies, and despite his pending criminal cases, he came to be assigned the highest level of security (Z-category) provided by the state,[25] though the threats against him were not specified.

In 2018, he voted for the Bharatiya Janta Party in the Rajya Sabha polls against the BSP candidate Dr. Ambedkar.

His party contested the Lok Sabha polls alone on two seats of Pratapgarh and Kaushambi.[26]

DSP Zia Ul Haque murder case

On 3 March 2013, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Zia Ul Haq was killed during clashes between villagers and police in Kunda, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya's constituency. Following a complaint by the slain officer's wife, Parveen Azad, Pratapgarh police registered a case against Raja Bhaiya for his alleged involvement in the 'conspiracy' which resulted in the gang war and subsequent murder of the police officer. In the FIR, Parveen said that her husband was killed by the henchmen of Raja Bhaiya. She named Gulshan Yadav, chairman of Kunda Nagar Panchayat, Harion Srivastava, a representative of Raja Bhaiya, and Guddu Singh, Raja Bhaiya's driver as prime accused. She also named two other villagers – Kamta Prasad Pal and Rajesh Kumar Pal. The police registered a murder case against other accused who were named in the FIR. Further, this case was handed over to the elite investigation agency CBI on 7 February 2013 for further investigation.[27] The CBI registered four different cases in the murder of senior police officer Zia-ul-Haq and two others who were shot dead on Saturday in the constituency of former Uttar Pradesh minister, Raja Bhaiya.

On 1 August 2013, the CBI filed the final report in the CBI court giving a clean chit to Raja Bhaiya.[28]

Positions held
#FromToPositionParty
1.19931996MLA (1st term) from KundaIND
2.19962002MLA (2nd term) from KundaIND
3.20022007MLA (3rd term) from KundaIND
4.20072012MLA (4th term) from KundaIND
5.20122017MLA (5th term) from KundaIND
6.20172022MLA (6th term) from KundaIND
7.2022PresentMLA (7th term) from KundaJansatta Dal (L)

Charity and social work

In November 2019, Singh announced bearing of all the treatment-related expenses for a six year old cancer patient named Vidushi.[29] Every year since 1993, Singh organises collective wedding (saamuhik vivah) of hundreds of those girls whose families can't afford marriage expenses.[30]

See also

References
  1. "Members of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly". uplegisassembly.gov.in (in Hindi). Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  2. Ramendra Singh (9 March 2013). "The Raja's Backyard". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 March 2013.
  3. "Rumblings in Kunda: The Challenge to 'Criminal Politician' Raja Bhaiya". The Wire. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  4. "My husband had listed 47 cases against Raja Bhaiyya, reveals wife of slain UP cop". India Today. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  5. "POTA charges to stay, Raja Bhaiya must surrender: SC". The Times of India. 10 November 2005. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  6. "Akhilesh includes history-sheeter Raja Bhaiya in Cabinet". The Indian Express. 15 March 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  7. "Deputy SP's murder: UP minister Raja Bhaiya resigns". The Times of India. 4 March 2013. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  8. "Raja Bhaiya resigns after being booked for UP police officer's murder in Pratapgarh". The Indian Express. 4 March 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  9. Correspondent, HT (10 March 2022). "UP polls: Raja Bhaiya, Abhay Singh win; three other musclemen lose". Hindustan Times.
  10. "Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly (UPLA): Member info". www.upvidhansabhaproceedings.gov.in. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. Raja Bhaiya may announce new political party
  12. "Raghuraj Pratap Singh(Independent(IND)):Constituency- KUNDA(PRATAPGARH) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  13. "2007 Uttar Pradesh state elections". Election Commission of India. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2022..
  14. Prem Panicker (20 February 2002). "Election 2002: The secret of Raja Bhaiya's success". rediff.com. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  15. "Uttar Pradesh: Kunda MLA Raja Bhaiyya announces new party, likely to field candidates in 2019". The New Indian Express. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  16. "Uttar Pradesh - Kunda". Election Commission of India. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  17. "Kunda Election Result UPDATE: रघुराज प्रताप सिंह का फिर चला जादू, सपा प्रत्याशी को 30 हजार वोटों से हराया". News18 हिंदी (in Hindi). 10 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  18. "The gang of Raja Bhaiyya". Times of India. 24 June 2007. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  19. J.P. Shukla (15 April 2004). "Muscle and mafia links still matter in Uttar Pradesh". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 16 October 2008. Retrieved 9 August 2007.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. George Iype and Ehtasham Khan (11 March 2004). "Caught in the POTA trap: Uttar Pradesh". rediff.com.
  21. Ram Dutt Tripathi (14 November 2005). "Politician held on terror charge". BBC News, Lucknow. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  22. "Raja Bhaiya cases: DSP being 'victimised'". The Tribune, Chandigarh. 28 August 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  23. "Night before HC says yes to his plea for CBI probe, UP cop dies". The Indian Express. 17 January 2007. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  25. Aman Sharma (22 June 2005). "Now, Z security for Bhaiyya". Indian Express.
  26. "Modi is popular but his MPs will struggle: Independent MLA Raja Bhaiyya". The Times of India. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  27. "UP top cop killed in gunbattle following village head's murder". India Today. 15-07-14.
  28. "CBI gives clean chit to Raja Bhaiya in deputy SP murder case". The Times of India. 2 August 2013. Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 25 September 2013.
  29. "कैंसर से लड़ रही ये मासूम, 3 दिन में मदद को ब दर्जनों हाथ, राजा भैया ने कहा- पूरी हेल्प करूंगा". Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd (in Hindi). 6 November 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  30. "हिंदी खबर, Latest News in Hindi, हिंदी समाचार, ताजा खबर". Patrika News (in Hindi). Retrieved 10 November 2020.
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