Congress senior leader and advisor to the Telangana government, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, has lambasted BRS leaders for their stance on the return of Khairtabad MLA Danam Nagender to the Congress fold. In a statement to the media on Tuesday, he asserted that former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao could be credited as the mastermind behind orchestrating defections in opposition parties.
He recalled that KCR initiated a culture of defection shortly after assuming power in June 2014. Between 2014 and 2018, KCR engineered the defection of 4 MPs, 25 MLAs, and 18 MLCs. Additionally, during his second term, he engineered the defection of 14 MLAs, including 12 from the Congress party. Shabbir Ali also noted that BRS attracted numerous sarpanches, ZPTC, MPTC, councillors, corporators, and other leaders from opposition parties. He emphasised the unethical nature of BRS leaders’ actions and questioned their moral authority to criticise defections.
Mr. Shabbir Ali further pointed out that BRS leaders had hinted at destabilising the Congress government led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy by suggesting a slim majority and the potential collapse of the government with the defection of a few MLAs. He assured that the Congress party is vigilant against such attempts and remains committed to upholding stability and constitutional principles. Anticipating more defections from BRS to Congress, Shabbir Ali expressed confidence in the party’s growing support base.
Meanwhile, Government Whip and Vemulawada MLA Adi Srinivas condemned BRS leader B Vinod Kumar’s criticism of party defections. Speaking at a programme in Kathalapur mandal of Jagtial district, Mr. Srinivas questioned Vinod Kumar’s silence on defections during the BRS regime and accused him of hypocrisy. He also accused BJP and BRS of conspiring against the government and challenged Vinod Kumar’s electoral prospects in Karimnagar. He challenged Mr. Vinod to prove his honesty by swearing in the name of God that he had no connection with the cash seized by the police from the Prathima Multiplex in Karimnagar recently.
