Telangana Assembly Speaker, Gaddam Prasad Kumar, dismissed petitions seeking the disqualification of two BRS MLAs who were accused of switching allegiance to the ruling Congress. The Speaker stated that there was no concrete evidence of their defection to the Congress. He clarified that the anti-defection law does not apply to these MLAs, affirming they remain part of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).
The Speaker’s decision marks the rejection of disqualification pleas against seven out of 10 BRS MLAs who were alleged to have joined the Congress. Previously, petitions against five MLAs had been dismissed by the Speaker, with the fate of one more MLA, Sanjay Kumar, still pending. The Speaker had concluded hearings on disqualification petitions for eight MLAs and is yet to announce the decision.
The remaining two MLAs, Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari, are expected to face disqualification hearings after submitting their responses to the notices issued by the Speaker. These MLAs had been elected on the BRS ticket in the 2023 elections but were accused of switching to the Congress in 2024. The Supreme Court had earlier issued a contempt notice to the Telangana Speaker for not adhering to its directive to decide on the disqualification pleas against the 10 MLAs.
