Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar has commenced hearings on the disqualification petitions against MLA Danam Nagender, who purportedly switched from Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress party. The Speaker will listen to arguments from BRS MLA Kaushik Reddy and BJP floor leader A. Maheshwar Reddy’s counsels and gather evidence.
Following a directive from the Supreme Court, the Speaker is addressing Nagender’s petition within a two-week timeframe. Notably, the Speaker has already dismissed seven out of 10 BRS MLAs’ disqualification petitions for lack of evidence proving their defection to the Congress, affirming their technical allegiance to the BRS.
While the BRS alleges that Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari openly supported the Congress, the accused MLAs deny joining the ruling party, claiming their interactions were solely for constituency development funds. Nagender, elected from Khairatabad in 2023, defended his actions, stating he attended a Congress meeting in 2024 in a personal capacity and urging the Speaker to dismiss the petitions based on media reports.
