Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao has criticised Congress for speaking about constitutional values in Delhi while violating the same Constitution in Telangana. He said both Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin when it comes to weakening democratic institutions. He termed the statements made by Congress leaders in Delhi on constitutional morality as hypocritical when the same principles are not followed by the Congress govt in Telangana.Reacting to Congress leader and PAC chairman KC Venugopal’s remarks that keeping the deputy speaker post vacant in the Lok Sabha for seven years amounts to a constitutional vacuum, Harish Rao, in a statement on Tuesday, said the observation might be correct, but questioned whether the same standard did not apply to Telangana. He pointed out that it was nearly two and a half years since the Congress govt came to power in Telangana, yet the deputy speaker post in the assembly was not filled. He demanded that the Congress immediately explain why a constitutionally mandated position like the deputy speaker was left vacant for nearly two and a half years. Calling this a clear double standard, Harish Rao said the people of Telangana were closely observing this hypocrisy. Harish Rao asked Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal to clarify whether “this is not also a constitutional vacuum”. He questioned why Congress leaders who speak loudly about protecting the Constitution in Delhi remain silent about constitutional violations happening under their own govt in Telangana.He said Congress leaders preach about constitutional values and democratic norms in Delhi but destroy democratic institutions in states for political convenience.Harish Rao alleged that the Congress govt in Telangana was repeating the same undemocratic practices followed by BJP, and that both parties were competing with each other in undermining democratic systems.He further stated that Congress speaks one way when it suits its political interests and takes a completely different stand when it comes to its own govts.
