Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday, September 9, allotted four weeks to the Telangana Speaker to decide on MLAs who have defected to other parties.
The High Court’s direction came while addressing three petitions from BRS and BJP MLAs regarding the inaction of the Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker in disqualifying MLAs who switched from BRS to the Congress party.
BJP Nirmal MLA Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and Huzurabad BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy filed petitions urging the court to direct the speaker to disqualify Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender, who defected from the BRS to the Congress.
Maheshwar Reddy had earlier tried to submit a petition to the speaker’s office, however, he was allegedly denied any acknowledgement.
Kuna Pandu Vivekananda also filed a petition seeking disqualification of Bhadradri Kothagudem MLA Venkata Rao Tellam and Ghanpur (SC Reserved) MLA Kadiyam Srihari, former BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress.
This verdict by the High Court to the Speaker was welcomed by BRS MLA Harish Rao who termed the court’s verdict as a “stinging slap to Congress.”
“We welcome the Telangana High Court’s decision regarding the disqualification of defected MLAs. This ruling is a significant setback for Congress’ undemocratic practices. It clearly shows that those who switched parties cannot escape disqualification,” said Rao.
He further added that by-elections in the constituencies of defectors MLAs are inevitable while exuding confidence in the party’s victory.
List of MLAs who defected from BRS to Congress
- Arekapudi Gandhi – Serilingampally
- Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy – Gadwal
- Danam Nagender – Khairatabad
- Gudem Mahipal Reddy – Patancheru
- Kale Yadaiah – Chevella
- Kadiyam Srihari – Ghanpur Station
- Pocharam Srinivas Reddy – Banswada
- Sanjay Kumar – Jagtial
- T Prakash Goud – Rajendranagar
- Tellam Venkat Rao – Bhadrachalam
