In a significant political development in Telangana, Assembly Speaker G Prasad Kumar on Wednesday dismissed disqualification petitions filed against several MLAs who allegedly switched their allegiance to the ruling Congress party. The decision has sparked a major controversy, with the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) announcing it will challenge the speaker's ruling in the Telangana High Court.
BRS Leaders Condemn Speaker's Decision
Senior BRS leaders, including KT Rama Rao (KTR), T Harish Rao, and B Vinod Kumar, along with the petitioners KP Vivekanand and Kalvakuntla Sanjay, strongly opposed the speaker's verdict. They labeled it a mockery of democracy and an act that undermines constitutional principles. KTR expressed astonishment that the speaker appeared to have yielded to pressure from the local Congress leadership, blatantly ignoring the spirit of judgments previously delivered by the Supreme Court of India.
He accused the speaker of acting in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner by disregarding the provisions of the anti-defection law. KTR stated that the Congress has been consistently making a mockery of the Constitution. He traced this trend back to the day when Chief Minister Revanth Reddy personally visited the homes of BRS MLAs to encourage defections, culminating in Wednesday's decision by the speaker.
Allegations of Political Convenience and Double Standards
KTR launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party, accusing them of having no respect for the nation's highest courts or the Constitution. He ridiculed the Congress leadership, stating that merely posing for photographs while holding a copy of the Constitution was insufficient. "Rahul Gandhi will go down in history as an incompetent leader who failed to respect the very anti-defection law brought in by his own father, late Rajiv Gandhi," KTR remarked.
He termed the protection of MLAs who openly admitted to defecting for 'development' as a clear display of double standards. The BRS leader alleged that the Congress was shying away from disqualifying the defectors solely out of fear of facing bypolls. He contended that while the Congress might celebrate saving the defected MLAs on technical grounds temporarily, the people in their respective constituencies had already disqualified them in the public court.
Legal Challenge and Further Accusations
BRS MLAs Vivekanand and Sanjay, who were the petitioners in the case, declared their intention to challenge the speaker's decision in the High Court. They argued that Wednesday's orders were unilateral and biased. They alleged that the speaker failed in his duty as a tribunal chairman and that they were not even provided with copies of the judgment. "Only for the sake of the Supreme Court did the speaker pronounce his judgment," they said, pointing out that the defected MLAs had actively campaigned for the Congress in recent panchayat elections.
Harish Rao highlighted the contradiction in the Congress's stance, noting that the party speaks one way in Delhi but acts oppositely in Telangana on the issue of defections. "Rahul Gandhi talks about saving the Constitution but is acting against it now," he stated. B Vinod Kumar added another layer to the criticism, pointing out that despite the defected MLAs themselves stating they joined the Congress for development and funds, the speaker claimed there was no proof of their defections.
The political atmosphere in Telangana remains charged as the legal battle now shifts to the High Court. This episode has intensified the war of words between the ruling Congress and the opposition BRS, setting the stage for a protracted constitutional and political clash.
