Hyd: CPI questions BJP stand on defections after Danam Nagender verdict
Hyderabad, Sept 20 (TNT): CPI National Secretary K Ramakrishna on Sunday questioned the BJP’s stand on political defections, following the Telangana High Court’s disqualification of Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender under the anti-defection law.
Reacting to Union Minister G Kishan Reddy’s description of the verdict as a “victory for the Constitution and rule of law”, Ramakrishna asked whether the BJP would apply the same principle to defections involving political parties across the country.
The High Court on September 18 set aside the Telangana Assembly Speaker’s order and disqualified Nagender, who was elected on a BRS ticket in 2023 and subsequently contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate.
The court also declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant.
Ramakrishna alleged that the BJP had encouraged defections in several states and questioned Kishan Reddy’s criticism of the Congress and BRS while, he alleged, remaining silent on defections involving other parties.
He further alleged that inducements, threats and other means were being used to attract elected representatives into the BJP and demanded that Kishan Reddy clarify the BJP’s position on defections across the country.
The CPI leader said constitutional principles relating to defections should be applied uniformly to all political parties.
The verdict has also intensified the political debate in Telangana, with BRS leaders highlighting the ruling in their criticism of the Congress government, while the BJP had also welcomed the court’s intervention.
TNT TS
