Ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court, Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, on Wednesday dismissed the disqualification petitions filed by BRS against five of the ten turncoat MLAs. While the ruling came as a huge relief to the five MLAs who had denied joining the Congress following the filing of disqualification petitions against them, the BRS slammed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for preaching Constitutional morality in Delhi and violating it in Telangana.
After dragging his feet over the disqualification petitions, Telangana Assembly Speaker and chairman of the tribunal for disqualification on grounds of defection, today dismissed the petitions against five turncoat MLAs – Tellam Venkata Rao, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Arekapudi Gandhi. The BRS had filed these petitions seeking the disqualification of a total of ten MLAs for voluntarily giving up the memberships of the BRS after winning elections on its ticket.
However, during the hearing, the MLAs submitted that they had not quit BRS and met the Chief Minister to develop their constituencies. A statement from the Assembly Secretary stated, “Hon’ble Speaker and the Chairman, Tribunal, after considering the merits of the above petitions, hereby dismissed them.” The turncoat MLAs apparently have technically continued to be with the BRS, sitting in the same seats allotted to them previously. The verdicts on the disqualification petition against three more MLAs, including former Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Kale Yadaiah and Sanjay Kumar, will be delivered within a few days. The Supreme Court, which had previously directed the Speaker to conduct the hearing of the disqualification petitions, is slated to hear the case on 19 December.
Senior BRS leader T Harish Rao slammed the Congress, saying, “Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Save the Constitution’ slogan stands exposed today with the Telangana Congress Speaker’s ruling on defected MLAs. This is not saving the Constitution but politically manipulating and undermining it by the Telangana Congress Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy and his government. Preaching constitutional morality in Delhi while violating it in Telangana is the real face of Congress and Rahul Gandhi.”
Two more MLAs, Danam Nagender and Kadiam Srihari, are yet to appear before the Speaker for a hearing. The case of Nagender is particularly interesting since he had contested as a Congress candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, 2024, without quitting as a BRS MLA, providing ample evidence of switching sides.