Kishan Reddy accuses Congress of double standards

metro india news  I hyderabad 

Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy has accused the Congress of adopting double standards on democracy, alleging that its commitment to protecting the Constitution and respecting the Opposition in Delhi contradicts the actions of its government in Telangana. In a statement on Sunday, he cited recent developments in Delhi and Hyderabad as evidence of the party’s “two-faced approach” to democratic rights.

Kishan Reddy said Delhi Police had allowed Congress leaders and workers to stage sit-ins, block roads and hold protests over the past three to four days, despite public inconvenience and law-and-order concerns. He noted that authorities had respected their freedom of expression even when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lay on the road and Rahul Gandhi climbed barricades during demonstrations. Questioning the Telangana government’s approach, he referred to a Congress protest in Hyderabad two days earlier demanding the removal of the Chief Election Commissioner. He asked why law-and-order concerns should restrict political demonstrations in Telangana when Congress leaders demanded the right to protest in Delhi.

He alleged that BJP leaders, including State president N. Ramchander Rao, had repeatedly been placed under house arrest to prevent them from raising public issues. Accusing Congress of applying different rules in Delhi and Telangana, he said people in the State deserved the same democratic freedoms sought by Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

Challenges Kharge to visit Hyderabad

Responding to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s description of India as a “muscle democracy” rather than the “mother of democracy,” Kishan Reddy criticised the remark, alleging that the Congress was blaming democratic institutions out of frustration over its inability to win power and public support.

He recalled the Emergency imposed in 1975, alleging that the Congress government had curtailed civil liberties, suppressed press freedom and detained thousands of political leaders.

Challenging Kharge to visit Hyderabad, he asked him to assess democracy in Telangana under Congress rule. He also questioned whether Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could tell people that questioning the government over its poll promises was wrong.

Referring to the six guarantees and what he described as 420 sub-guarantees promised during the Telangana Assembly elections, Kishan Reddy asked whether citizens should be prevented from holding the government accountable for their implementation.

He concluded that merely holding the Constitution while delivering speeches was insufficient, asserting that genuine democracy required governments to uphold its principles in practice. He demanded that Congress extend to Telangana the democratic freedoms it sought for itself in Delhi, particularly for Opposition parties.