In the popular Telugu movie S/O Satyamurthy, the protagonist Viraj Anand (Allu Arjun) says, “People often talk of ethics in tough times, but think of equations in good times.”
The profound one-liner is best suited to describe the Congress party given that, as a ruling party in Telangana, it has now no misgivings about inducting opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs into its fold. It was the same Congress party, when it was in the opposition, had cried foul, staged protests and moved courts against former chief minister and BRS leader K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) for engineering defections and offering cabinet berths to opposition MLAs.
It went to town in heaping criticism on Madhusudhana Chary and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, who were speakers during BRS rule, for failing to disqualify defected Congress MLAs.
In particular, Srinivas Reddy’s role as speaker was vehemently criticised by the Congress. He came under fire for not disqualifying the defected MLAs and allowing KCR a free hand to induct turncoats into the state cabinet.
Today, in a classic case of political expediency, Srinivas Reddy has been readily welcomed into the Congress and in all likelihood, he could be given a ministership in Revanth Reddy’s government.
So far, six BRS MLAs have jumped ship and Congress leaders have been openly declaring that more crossovers are possible in the days to come. They assert that about 20 BRS MLAs are in touch with them, willing to shift their allegiance soon.
Revanth Reddy went a step ahead and said that the BRS would be left only with KCR and his family members, K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao.
In the December 2023 assembly election results, the Congress won 64 seats against the BRS’s 39 in the House of 119 members. With the outside support of seven MLAs of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and an MLA from the Communist Party of India, Revanth Reddy’s government enjoys a comfortable majority.
However, Reddy justifies defections, noting that the BRS together with the BJP is “conspiring” to dislodge his government. It may well be possible for Reddy to go ahead and even offer cabinet berths to the defected MLAs, whilst the speaker, who is expected to implement the anti-defection law, could turn a blind eye to the BRS’s appeals to disqualify those legislators who betrayed the people’s mandate by changing parties.
The same modus operandi was followed by KCR during the ten-year BRS rule, inviting criticism.
BRS MLA Kale Yadaiah being welcomed into the Congress party by chief minister Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders. Photo: By arrangement.
BRS MLA Kale Yadaiah being welcomed into the Congress party by chief minister Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders. Photo: By arrangement.
Whatever argument the Congress may advance to defend the engineering of defections, the party only stands to lose both in the state and at the national level. At a time when its top leader Rahul Gandhi is seen holding up a copy of the constitution with pride in meeting after meeting and underlining that his party stands for constitutional morality and democracy, the developments from Telangana indicate that all its tall talk about ‘saving the constitution’ is nothing more than hollow rhetoric.
The Congress’s foregrounding of constitutional morality and social justice in the Lok Sabha polls did pay dividends, indicating that elections can also be successfully fought by appealing to voters in the name of democracy and the constitution, even when there is a sweeping tide of majoritarianism.
Since losing power in Karnataka, Maharashtra and many other states due to the BJP’s ‘Operation Lotus’, the Congress has also been strongly advocating for the strengthening of the anti-defection law to disqualify legislators who have no reservations about changing parties at will. It argued, in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, that it would strive to put a time limit on speakers to dispose of appeals for the disqualification of defected MLAs.
The deeds and misdeeds of the Congress government in Telangana will have implications for the party across the country, particularly in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand, where assembly elections are due later this year.
Telangana and Karnataka, where the Congress is in power, should ideally become exemplary models in terms of administration and political culture for the Congress to showcase to the rest of India to win back its lost territories.
Also read: Telangana: Sixth BRS MLA Joins Ruling Congress, More Crossovers Expected
Even politically speaking, the Congress appears to be committing the ‘same mistake’ as the BRS did in the past.
Despite winning the majority of seats in the 2014 and 2018 elections, the BRS effected a series of defections to finish all of the opposition. The Congress was the worst casualty of KCR’s poaching efforts, as it had even lost legislature party status in the assembly. KCR had virtually wiped off the Telugu Desam Party.
The eventual political vacuum led to the rise of the BJP in Telangana, which hardly had any presence until then. The recent Lok Sabha results have demonstrated this, with the BJP equalling its tally with the Congress’s by winning as many as eight seats. The BRS drew a blank.
The BJP’s spectacular performance in the parliament elections is a direct consequence of the BRS losing its ground, following its drubbing in the assembly elections. The anti-Congress vote, which was once held by the BRS, has now shifted to the BJP.
If anything, KCR and his politics of eliminating the opposition should serve as a warning sign for the Congress not to follow the same political culture. It is only in the Congress’s interest to let the BRS be a player and make the political contest in Telangana triangular. In the event of a straight fight between the Congress and BJP, the Congress stands to lose, rather than gain.
With power in the Centre, the BJP is sure to use strong-arm tactics to gain an upper hand over the Congress, as seen in many states. The BJP has already grown its footprint in parts of Telangana, where the Muslim population is significant, by polarising Hindu voters. It is now eager to expand into new territories across the state.
The Congress, if it believes it is the only alternative to the BJP in this country, should stop this ugly game of defections, which goes against the spirit of participatory democracy. It should realise that a vibrant opposition will not only help enhance governance but become a necessary bridge connecting the government with the people on the ground.
Pottepaka Sandeep Kumar (@Sandeepottepaka) is a Hyderabad-based independent researcher. His research interests include Middle East geopolitics, caste politics, and public policy. He is a former member of the International Public Policy Association.