Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) on Friday lashed out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of maintaining a "conspiratorial silence" over the spate of defections of BRS legislators into the Congress fold, BRS said in a press release.
KTR said while Rahul Gandhi frequently raises the issue of "vote chori" in national politics, he has failed to utter a word against what he described as "brazen MLA chori" in Telangana. "Rahul Gandhi should be ashamed of this undemocratic and unconstitutional practice. This is a crime worse than the so-called vote chori he keeps talking about," KTR charged.
The BRS leader demanded that Rahul Gandhi respond to the statements of defected MLAs, who, despite winning on BRS tickets and later joining the Congress, are now claiming they had not switched parties. "The Congress party's role in this shameless chori proves its double standards. Rahul Gandhi must answer," he asserted.
KTR recalled that several of these MLAs were seen draped in Congress scarves and even posed for photographs with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, images which were proudly circulated on social media by Congress leaders. "You draped them in the Congress scarf, and now you say they never joined? Do you still stand by this denial?" he asked.
Posing a barrage of questions to Rahul Gandhi, KTR said, "If this is not MLA chori, then what is it? How is this any less serious than vote chori? Are you not ashamed of your complicity in such political hypocrisy?"
The BRS leader also warned that such defections undermine democracy and erode public trust. He said the Congress government, instead of addressing people's issues, was indulging in unconstitutional tactics to weaken the opposition.
Earlier, KT Rama Rao on August 24 lashed out at the 10 defected MLAs who joined Congress, daring them to resign from their post and recontest the elections.
"Doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani (let truth be separated from lies)," KTR said while addressing the gathering in Serilingampally.
Criticising the claims of the Revanth Reddy government, KTR argued that if the Congress government in Telangana has performed better than the BRS government, it must be put to the test.
"If the Congress government truly performs better than the BRS government, if your six guarantees are genuinely implemented, if Hyderabad becomes prosperous and if all the poor live happily, then let's put it to the test. Let ten of us resign and see the people's verdict. Then the people themselves will decide between Revanth Reddy and KCR," he said.
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
