

HYDERABAD: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of maintaining a “conspiratorial silence” over the spate of defections of BRS legislators to the Congress.
In a press statement issued here, the BRS leader said: “Rahul Gandhi frequently raises the issue of ‘vote chori’ in national politics. But he failed to utter a word against a ‘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.”
Rama Rao recalled that several of the defected 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.
The legislator from Siricilla also warned that such defections undermine democracy and erode public trust.
He also said the Congress government, instead of addressing people’s issues, was indulging in unconstitutional tactics to weaken the opposition.