Lucknow: Kunda strongman Raghuraj Pratap Singh, also known as Raja Bhaiya, is again in the spotlight. His estranged wife, Bhanvi Singh, has written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) alleging that her husband owns illegal and banned weapons.
Acting on her complaint, the PMO forwarded the matter to the Union Home Ministry, which then directed the Department of Internal Security to investigate and also sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh principal secretary (home).
In her complaint, which ThePrint has seen, Bhanvi alleged that Raghuraj Pratap Singh is in possession of a large stock of lethal foreign weapons, including Turkish origin Zigana pistols and automatic assault rifles. She also accused the seven-time MLA of forcibly taking away her licensed weapons.
These firearms, she alleged, could pose a serious threat to public safety and national security. To back her allegations, Bhanvi submitted videos and photos taken on her phone.
ThePrint has learnt that the Uttar Pradesh’s home department is likely to submit a report in the coming days.
Raghuraj Pratap Singh and Bhanvi Singh are locked in a divorce case for over two years and their dispute has only grown since then, according to sources close to the MLA’s family.
This is not the first time Bhanvi levelled allegations on Raghuraj Pratap Singh. In March, the Delhi Police booked the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik founder on the charge of domestic violence after Bhanvi filed a complaint. She had also accused her in-laws, including her mother-in-law, of harassment.
ThePrint reached Raghuraj Pratap Singh through calls for his statement. This report will be updated as and when a response is received.
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Family feud
Hailing from the erstwhile royal family of Basti, Bhanvi married Raghuraj Pratap Singh who hails from the Bhadri (estate) of Oudh in 1995. The estranged couple has two daughters and as many sons.
Both the daughters live with their mother in Delhi, while the sons stay with Raghuraj Pratap Singh in Pratapgarh, the family sources said. The two sons formally joined the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik before the last year’s general elections.
The first indication of a rift in the family came in September 2023, when Bhanvi lodged a complaint at Lucknow’s Hazratganj police station, accusing the Kunda MLA’s brother and MLC Akshay Pratap Singh aka Gopal Ji of fraud.
Gopal shot back saying that Bhanvi suffers from mental illness and has strained relations with her maternal family. He further claimed that her behaviour forced his brother to take the drastic step of divorcing her.
As for the Kunda MLA, he has refrained from commenting in public, so far.
In the Uttar Pradesh political circles, Raghuraj Pratap Singh is seen as a leader with a strong following and having an iron grip on his home constituency in Pratapgarh district.
The seven-time MLA has a long history of controversies. The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) administration arrested him under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in 2002. At that time, defending the decision, Mayawati had remarked that Raghuraj Pratap Singh and his father Udai Pratap Singh had become a “symbol of terror” in Pratapgarh.
The charges were withdrawn when Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party came to power in 2003. Later, Raghuraj Pratap Singh became cabinet minister in both Mulayam and Akhilesh’s government between 2004 and 2007 and then between 2012 and 2017.
He resigned his ministerial post in March 2013 after being named as an accused in the killing of a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Pratapgarh district. Later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) gave the Kunda MLA a clean chit in August 2013, paving his way for reinduction in the cabinet in October that year.
After Yogi Adityanath became the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in 2017, Raghuraj Pratap Singh grew close to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongman from Gorakhpur. The next year, the Independent MLA went on to launch his own party, the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik. The party has two MLAs from Kunda and Babaganj (Vinod Saroj) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
(Edited by Tony Rai)