KCR broke constitutional rules: Smriti Irani

HYDERABAD: Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday came down upon Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for ‘breaking constitutionally, politically, culturally, and socially the ‘Maryada (traditions)’ that reflects’ on the Chief Minister’s views and values. Irani, answering questions at a press conference on the sidelines of the BJP’s national executive meeting at HICC here, said by choosing not to greet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the airport upon his arrival, Chandrashekar Rao “did not just insult an individual but an institution.”

In response to a question on how the BJP viewed the Telangana Chief Minister’s absence at the Begumpet airport when Modi arrived, Irani said the Prime Minister, on his very first day of holding the office, had made it clear that he would follow the principles of cooperative federalism.

“The Prime Minister, in the past eight years, met leaders of various political parties and treated them with respect as is constitutionally desired and is validated by ‘Maryada’. KCR ji has not only disrupted what has been constitutionally a federal protocol of our country, but he has broken all established norms,” Irani said.

To a question on Modi being described as ‘Tanashah’, she said it was Chandrashekar Rao who flouted constitutional norms. On the TRS leadership describing the BJP meet as a political circus, Irani said, “For KCR and his political entity, politics may be a circus. People in his party may be affiliated to clownish political behaviour and he may not take politics with the seriousness that they deserve. For the BJP ‘karyakartas’, politics is a medium for social emancipation and national building. For every karyakarta of the BJP, to host or to participate in the national executive is a matter of great pride for it is in such national meetings we not only pay homage to the contribution of citizens, we also take oath to serve our country better.”

On the TRS claim that what the Telangana government does today, the country does tomorrow, Irani said, “What Telangana is doing today is dynastic policies. India will never follow it. It (TRS) is a political organisation that is steeped in corruption, and believes that grandstanding means not receiving the Prime Minister of the country. It is a political organisation dedicated to the children of one leader and not citizens of the state, this is not a model that India will ever accept.”