Hyderabad: Telangana Speaker Gaddam Prasad continued the inquiry into party defection cases for the second day on Friday. The hearings, which aim to decide disqualification pleas against defected MLAs, entered a crucial stage with two key cases on the day’s agenda.
Earlier this week, the Speaker questioned four legislators during the first round of hearings. On Thursday, he examined Bhadrachalam MLA Tellam Venkata Rao and Jagtial MLA Sanjay. Both faced detailed questioning over the reasons behind their defection.
Telangana defected MLAs’ hearing enters key stage
At 11 a.m., the Speaker began proceedings in the case of Pocharam Srinivas Reddy versus Jagadish Reddy. During the session, Pocharam’s legal team cross-examined the petitioner on the claims made in his plea.
Later, at noon, the hearing in the case between Arikepudi Gandhi and Kalvakuntla Sanjay started. Gandhi’s lawyers questioned Sanjay on the details of his party switch. Meanwhile, Speaker Gaddam Prasad monitored both hearings closely and instructed all legal teams to finish their arguments within the allotted time.
Moreover, the Speaker emphasised that such inquiries must proceed swiftly to maintain legislative accountability.
Supreme Court directive speeds up disqualification action
The Speaker launched the current proceedings after the Supreme Court directed all states to conclude defection cases within three months. Consequently, Gaddam Prasad issued notices to ten MLAs who had switched parties.
Eight legislators replied to the notices. However, Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender and Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari have yet to respond. Therefore, the Speaker plans to conduct further hearings on November 12 and 13.
In addition, he intends to review all testimonies and documents before deciding the next course of action. The proceedings, officials noted, aim to ensure fair and timely enforcement of the anti-defection law in Telangana.