Bharat Rashtra Samithi (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 BRS legislators’ defections into the Congress fold.
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 said.
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.
The fresh salvo comes weeks after KTR slammed both the ruling Congress in Telangana and the BJP at the Centre, accusing them of colluding against the State.
Speaking at Telangana Bhavan during a party joining programme in August , KTR had alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had entered into a ‘behind-the-scenes pact’ and there has been a ‘secret deal’ which, he warned, would put Telangana’s future in danger.
On Friday, KTR recalled that several of these MLAs were seen draped in Congress scarves and even posing for photographs with Rahul Gandhi in Delhi, images that Congress leaders proudly circulated on social media. “You draped them in the Congress scarf, and now you say they never joined? Do you still stand by this denial?” he asked.
Rahul Gandhi should be ashamed of this undemocratic and unconstitutional practice.
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.