Venkaiah Naidu said Congress arty was the "mother of defections".
New Delhi:
In the wake of the Uttarakhand crisis, Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Monday refuted Congress's allegations that the Centre was trying to topple state governments, and said the opposition party was the "mother of defections".
Nine rebel Congress MLAs, along with BJP members, voted against the ruling party in Uttarakhand, putting the fate of the government in crisis. The state Governor has asked Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove majority even as the BJP has staked claim to form the government.
Attacking the Narendra Modi government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had said it was trying to topple state governments, and his party would fight this "demagoguery with democracy".
Mounting a counter attack, Mr Naidu said, "Congress is the mother of defections in the country. What they are saying is that if somebody goes to their party from other parties, they call it affection. If Congress people go out of their party, they say it is defection."
Claiming that Congress, when ruling at the Centre, had imposed President's rule around 90 times, Mr Naidu told the opposition party "not give us sermons".
"We do not believe in politics of defection. We believe in democracy, and in democracy, people are free to choose their party," he said.
Mr Gandhi, in a series of tweets had said, "Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP's new model, after failure in Bihar (sic)".
"Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy. This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal & now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modiji's BJP"," he had said.
Nine rebel Congress MLAs, along with BJP members, voted against the ruling party in Uttarakhand, putting the fate of the government in crisis. The state Governor has asked Chief Minister Harish Rawat to prove majority even as the BJP has staked claim to form the government.
Attacking the Narendra Modi government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had said it was trying to topple state governments, and his party would fight this "demagoguery with democracy".
Mounting a counter attack, Mr Naidu said, "Congress is the mother of defections in the country. What they are saying is that if somebody goes to their party from other parties, they call it affection. If Congress people go out of their party, they say it is defection."
Claiming that Congress, when ruling at the Centre, had imposed President's rule around 90 times, Mr Naidu told the opposition party "not give us sermons".
"We do not believe in politics of defection. We believe in democracy, and in democracy, people are free to choose their party," he said.
Mr Gandhi, in a series of tweets had said, "Toppling elected Govts by indulging in horse trading & blatant misuse of money & muscle, seems to be BJP's new model, after failure in Bihar (sic)".
"Congress Party will fight demagoguery with democracy. This attack on our democracy & Constitution, first in Arunachal & now Uttarakhand, is the true face of Modiji's BJP"," he had said.
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