HYDERABAD: Reacting to Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar dismissing disqualification petitions against five of the 10 BRS MLAs who “defected” to the ruling Congress, BJP state president N Ramchander Rao on Wednesday described the former’s decision as “murder of the Constitution and democracy”.
“The Congress’s stand on anti-defection law has been exposed by the Speaker’s decision to dismiss the anti-defection applications,” he said.
“The Speaker’s decision was influenced by the Congress, which always claims to protect the Constitution by carrying copies of Samvidhan. It was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who introduced the anti-defection law. Now, his own party is not following it. Its leaders, in fact, are making a mockery of the Constitution by holding copies in their hands, raising slogans such as Samvidhan Bachao,” Ramchander Rao alleged.
“The office of the Speaker should function independently and as per the Constitution. The Telangana Speaker’s decision amounts to murder of the Constitution and murder of democracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, BJP Legislative Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy said that Prasad Kumar was following in the footsteps of S Madhusudana Chary in “acting against the spirit of the Constitution”.
“Present Assembly Speaker Prasad Kumar is behaving just like his predecessor Madhusudana Chary who acted against the spirit of the Constitution while dealing with the issue of MLA defections during the BRS regime. Former chief minister KCR acted shamelessly over this issue during his tenure. Now, his successor A Revanth Reddy is doing the same,” he alleged.