Hyderabad: Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar on Wednesday dismissed the disqualification petitions filed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) against five MLAs who had joined the Congress after winning on BRS tickets. He ruled that there was not enough evidence to prove that the legislators had officially defected.
The Speaker delivered his decision just one day before the Supreme Court’s four-week deadline in the case. The apex court had earlier criticised the delay, warning of possible contempt proceedings, and had set an earlier deadline of October 21, which had lapsed.
In the first batch of decisions, the Speaker addressed petitions against MLAs Tellam Venkat Rao, Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy, Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, and Arekapudi Gandhi. He stated there was no clear proof that these legislators had joined the Congress, and therefore, they remained members of the BRS under technical grounds.
Speaker clears five in BRS MLAs disqualification case
Out of 10 disqualification petitions filed by the BRS, the inquiry process has been completed for eight MLAs. However, the final verdict was announced for only five of them on Wednesday. The verdicts on Pochampally Srinivas Reddy, Kale Yadaya, and Sanjay Kumar are scheduled to be delivered on Thursday.
Speaker clarified that there was no material evidence, such as official resignations or party membership changes, that could confirm defection in the five cases decided. The inquiry is still ongoing for Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari.
The Supreme Court is set to hear the BRS petition on December 19. The party is seeking directions to expedite decisions on all disqualification cases. Wednesday’s ruling may have a bearing on how the court approaches the matter later this week.