 Raj was first elected to represent the Ra Open Constituency in the House of Representatives as an independent candidate at the 1999 general election.He was appointed Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs in the interim Cabinet that was formed in the wake of the Fiji coup of 2000, and retained his seat as a candidate of the newly formed "Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua" (SDL) in the election held to restore democracy in September 2001.Raj generated outrage among his fellow Indo-Fijians in his Maiden speech (the speech typically made by a newly elected parliamentarian in Commonwealth countries).