HYDERABAD: Welcoming the Supreme Court’s direction to the Telangana Assembly Speaker on the MLAs’ disqualification petition, BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Thursday demanded that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi demonstrate his commitment to his ‘Paanch Nyay’ (five justices) by ensuring the disqualification of legislators who defected to the Congress.
In a press statement issued here, Rama Rao questioned Rahul Gandhi’s silence on the issue and urged immediate action against the legislators.
“The Supreme Court order should be respected and the Assembly Speaker should promptly disqualify the defected MLAs,” he said.
“Rahul Gandhi, who often speaks about constitutional values, must adhere to his own words regarding defections. There is no need for further inquiry. The Speaker should immediately disqualify the MLAs, paving the way for byelections in 10 constituencies,” he added.
The BRS leader described the Supreme Court order as a “slap in the face” to all such practices.
Rama Rao wrote on X: “BRS welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court and we thank the judges for ensuring that the democratic structure of this country isn’t eroded by malicious methods. I hope Rahul Gandhi, who in his Paanch Nyay advocated for stronger anti-defection laws and automatic cancellation upon defection, will welcome this decision. I dare you to stand by your own preaching, Mr Gandhi. And I hope you and your party don’t use the honourable Speaker’s position to make a mockery of the Indian Constitution, any further.”
He asserted that no further investigation was needed into the issue as the 10 MLAs who defected to the Congress have been openly participating in government programmes on a daily basis.
“It doesn’t need much investigation to accept that all these 10 MLAs switched to the Congress illegitimately and have been participating in the official programmes every single day!” KTR said in his X post.
“As I interpret it, we have three months to work towards the bypolls in 10 constituencies. Let’s get to work, guys! Satyameva Jayathe. Jai KCR! Jai Telangana!” he added while calling upon the BRS cadre to gear up for the bypolls.