Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has accused the Telangana Assembly Speaker of dismissing disqualification petitions against defecting MLAs under pressure from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao (KTR) criticized the Speaker’s decision as undemocratic and shocking during a press conference. The Speaker ruled that there was no evidence of defection by Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari to the Congress party, similar to the previous case of eight BRS MLAs.
Addressing the press, KTR alleged that the Speaker had no independence in the matter and that the Congress party was managing the defection operations in the state. He blamed Rahul Gandhi for the decision, calling it an assault on democracy and the Constitution of India. KTR accused Rahul Gandhi of encouraging unethical political activities for financial gains from the state.
KTR questioned the moral authority of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party to criticize defections, highlighting what he described as hypocrisy in their political stance. He criticized the Congress leader for allegedly promoting defections while claiming to defend the Constitution. KTR also raised concerns about an MLA contesting as a Congress candidate without resigning from the Assembly, questioning the Speaker’s refusal to disqualify him.
The BRS leader further criticized Rahul Gandhi for speaking about automatic disqualification in defection cases while allegedly allowing the Congress government to protect defectors. He pointed out the historical lack of credibility of the Congress party on defection issues, citing past instances of encouraging defections during the Congress era under Indira Gandhi in Haryana and united Andhra Pradesh.
