Opinion: Defection deceit in Telangana: Destruction of electoral democracy
Will Rahul Gandhi uphold the Constitution, the sacred document he professes to defend, or back Revanth Reddy’s opportunism?
By Dr Sravan Dasoju
On April 5, 2024, the Indian National Congress (INC) released its Nyay Patra manifesto, vowing to cleanse Indian politics of defections. As part of its pledge to curtail political defections, it promised to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution to make defection an automatic disqualification, without loopholes and delay.
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Under the manifesto section “Defending the Constitution”, the pledge reads:
We promise to amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection (leaving the original party on which the MLA or MP was elected) an automatic disqualification of membership in the Assembly or Parliament.
This commitment was projected as carrying the inspiration of former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna awardee, Rajiv Gandhi, who in 1985 introduced the anti-defection law through the 52nd Constitutional Amendment, with the sincere conviction of ending the notorious ‘Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram’ culture that had destabilised Indian politics for decades.
Yet within months of coming to power in Telangana, under Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, the Congress has recklessly done the exact opposite. It has preyed upon the business and financial vulnerabilities of BRS MLAs, coercing their defections and weaponising them as a calculated assault on democracy, tearing up its own solemn pledge and trampling constitutional morality, social ethics, and the people’s mandate.
Rahul’s Dhritarashtra Moment
Rahul Gandhi travels across the country holding aloft the Constitution, declaring that it is being “scuttled” or “demolished”, and accusing the Modi government of “throwing away the Constitution, which is the blood and life of the very idea of India.” It is indeed inspiring to see programmes like ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim’, and ‘Jai Samvidhan’ being launched under his leadership.
But this also raises a hard question: Are these truly path-finding values meant to guide the nation, or hollow political slogans crafted to camouflage opportunism and capture public attention? It is shocking to witness that Rahul Gandhi has failed to restrain his own dictatorial Chief Minister in Telangana from trampling the very sacred document he professes to defend. Worse still, he has publicly encouraged defections by personally draping Congress party shawls over the shoulders of defectors, including former Speaker of the Telangana Assembly and present BRS MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy.
In Telangana, his silence and complicity make him a modern-day Dhritarashtra, blindly shielding his political heir even as that heir dismantles the spirit of electoral democracy. Rahul Gandhi must recognise that this behaviour will not only permanently stain the Congress in India but also gravely damage his national credibility as a defender of constitutional values.
SC’s ‘tight slap’
In Telangana, 10 MLAs elected on BRS tickets crossed over to the Congress after the November 2023 polls. Their defections were publicly announced and televised; social media propagated; and the BRS filed formal disqualification petitions in March-April 2024 that still remain pending before the Speaker.
When the BRS first moved the Telangana High Court, a single judge directed the Assembly Secretary to place the petitions before the Speaker and fix a hearing schedule within four weeks. The Assembly Secretary appealed; on November 22, 2024, a division bench set aside the single judge order and merely told the Speaker to decide in a “reasonable time.”
The Supreme Court, in KM Singh v. Speaker of Manipur (2020), recommended that disqualification petitions be decided within three months, but Telangana’s current defection scandal proves that even three months is too generous
The BRS then approached the Supreme Court. On July 31, 2025, a bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih quashed the High Court division bench’s interference, restored the single judge’s approach, and directed the Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions within three months. The Court rebuked the Speaker for issuing no notices for over seven months until the matter reached the apex court and warned that if any MLA tried to protract proceedings, the Speaker should draw an adverse inference. It also flagged a larger concern, inviting Parliament to reconsider whether entrusting Speakers with anti defection adjudication is working at all.
Both in the High Court and in the Supreme Court, Revanth Reddy’s government deployed senior advocates to defend the brazen violations of Rajiv Gandhi’s Anti-Defection Law and Rahul Gandhi’s Nyaya Patra. However, the country’s apex court has now put the Telangana Speaker on the clock. With every material fact already in the public domain, this isn’t a three month job; it’s a three minute decision if the Constitution, not convenience and rank opportunism, is the guide.
Every fact is in the public domain. The delay is a calculated and politically manipulative ploy to shield the dictatorial, do-not-care arrogance of Revanth Reddy, a Chief Minister who has made it a habit to demolish the Constitution and brazenly disregard Rahul Gandhi and the very ideals he claims to uphold.
Before Telangana’s victory, Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, condemned defections as the “murder of democracy” and accused the BJP of buying MLAs. They repeatedly reminded the nation how elected Congress governments in Goa (2017), Manipur (2017), Arunachal Pradesh (2016), Karnataka (2019), Madhya Pradesh (2020), and Maharashtra (2022) were shamelessly dethroned through brazen defection operations orchestrated by the BJP.
After the victory, the same Congress remains silent on defections benefiting its government. In Urdu, this is called ‘bara khoon maaf’ politics. Every crime is forgiven if it helps those in power.
Tenth Schedule Loophole
The anti-defection law was designed to disqualify legislators who abandon their party or defy its whip. However, it also created a major escape route, the merger clause, which allows legislators to avoid disqualification if two-thirds of their party’s members merge with another party.
The Supreme Court, in KM Singh v. Speaker of Manipur (2020), recognised the dangers of this loophole and recommended that disqualification petitions be decided within three months to prevent deliberate delays. But Telangana’s current defection scandal proves that even three months is too generous, especially when all the evidence is already in the public domain and the violations are undeniable.
When citizens votes for a candidate, they are not just casting a ballot; they are signing a contract of trust, authorising them to represent their beliefs, hopes, and the community’s voice. A defection without their consent is no different from someone selling their house without asking them. This is not healthy politics; it is outright theft of their mandate and a betrayal of the very foundation of representative democracy and the spirit of the Constitution.
Time to Defend Democracy
As the Congress turns Rajiv Gandhi’s anti-defection legacy into a cruel joke, every citizen must rise to defend democracy, a democracy now being bargained away in shady backroom deals. We must collectively demand the immediate disqualification of all defectors, as per the law, and to make it happen, let our voices resonate in public forums, on social media, and in every civic space.
Only sustained pressure from the people can force accountability when political morality has collapsed. We must also seek full implementation of the Nyay Patra pledge in both letter and spirit, wherever the Congress is in power, including in Telangana.
Above all, Rahul Gandhi must be compelled to make a public declaration: Does he stand with Revanth Reddy’s manipulative, anti-constitutional power games, or with his values-driven manifesto that promises to protect the Constitution and electoral democracy?
(The author is an Advocate and MLC, Bharat Rashtra Samithi)
