Congress preaches constitutional morality in Delhi but violates it in Telangana, says Harish Rao

He described statements made by Congress leaders in Delhi on constitutional morality as hypocritical when the same standards were not followed by the Congress government in Telangana

Hyderabad: Slamming the Congress for what he termed double standards, former Minister and BRS Legislature Party Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao criticised the party for speaking about constitutional values in Delhi while ignoring the same principles in Telangana.

He described statements made by Congress leaders in Delhi on constitutional morality as hypocritical when the same standards were not followed by the Congress government in Telangana. Reacting to Congress leader and PAC Chairman KC Venugopal’s remarks that keeping the Deputy Speaker’s post vacant in the Lok Sabha for seven years amounts to a constitutional vacuum, Harish Rao said the observation might be correct, but questioned why the same standard did not apply to Telangana.

“It has been nearly two and a half years since the Congress government came to power in Telangana, yet the Deputy Speaker post in the State Assembly has not been filled,” Harish Rao said, asking Rahul Gandhi and KC Venugopal to clarify whether this was not also a constitutional vacuum.

He questioned why Congress leaders who claimed to protect the Constitution in Delhi remained silent about what he called constitutional violations under their own government in Telangana. Congress leaders preach about constitutional values and democratic norms in Delhi but undermine democratic institutions in other States for political convenience, he said.

The Congress government in Telangana was repeating the same undemocratic practices followed by the BJP, he said, adding that both parties were competing with each other in undermining democratic systems. He also demanded that the Congress government in Telangana immediately explain why a constitutionally mandated position like the Deputy Speaker had been left vacant for two and a half years.

“Why are democratic norms being ignored despite repeated claims about protecting the Constitution?” he asked.