Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar has dismissed the disqualification petition against the five turncoat MLAs of the BRS since they have continued to pay their monthly contribution of Rs 5,000 to the party’s legislative fund. The BRS, which has pursued the case till the apex court, did not even issue any notice or initiate disciplinary action against the dissenting MLAs, prompting the Speaker to dismiss the newspaper clippings and other similar evidence as hearsay.
Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Kumar Prasad had dismissed the disqualification petitions filed by the BRS against five turncoat MLAs, which led to severe criticism from the Opposition parties — the BRS, and the BJP. However, the Speaker observed in one of the cases that the “Respondent paid Rs 5,000 monthly contribution to the BRS party till the date of the disqualification petition and even later.”
He also cited that the petitioner admitted that the BRS Party did not issue any notice or disciplinary action against the respondent for any absence or for any alleged anti-party activities. It was also mentioned that on the floor of the House, BRS working president (KT Rama Rao) had mentioned that the party had 38 MLAs, which apparently proved that none of the Opposition MLAs had defected. On the contrary, the BRS petitioners have submitted only various newspaper reports and televised media reports to prove that the MLAs have defected.
Moreover, the BRS MLAs accused of defecting were seated in different rows, and this was interpreted as “symbolic defection” by those petitioning to disqualify the MLAs. “All allegations made against the respondent that ‘he voluntarily gave up membership and joined INC’ were based solely on media reports and newspaper clippings,” observed the Speaker. He ruled that there was “no evidence of voluntary relinquishment of party membership.” Moreover, with 64 MLAs, the stability of the Congress government was never in question in the light of the defection drama. The disgruntled MLAs have maintained they met Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to ensure the development of their constituencies.
Yesterday, Chief Minister Revanth took a dig at the BRS leadership, saying they were behaving like a poverty-stricken couple out to sell their children, accusing the Opposition of foisting its MLAs on others. The Speaker has so far dismissed the disqualification petitions against Tellam Venkata Rao, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, and Arekapudi Gandhi. Four more were pending, including that of Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, Sanjay Kumar, Kale Yadaiah, and Kadiyam Srihari. However, the case of Danam Nagender, who had contested the Lok Sabha as a Congress candidate without even quitting as a BRS MLA, may prove to be a challenge to the ruling party.