BRS awaits Speaker’s decision on defected MLAs

The Court had on September 8 instructed the Speaker to decide on the pleas within four weeks, cautioning that failure to do so would result in the case being reopened suo moto.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has decided to adopt a cautious approach in the wake of the Telangana High Court‘s directive to the Assembly Speaker regarding the disqualification pleas against three BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress. The Court had on September 8 instructed the Speaker to decide on the pleas within four weeks, cautioning that failure to do so would result in the case being reopened suo moto.

The disqualification pleas pertain to MLAs Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari, and Tellam Venkat Rao, who were elected on BRS tickets but later switched allegiance to the Congress Party. In response to the Court’s orders, the BRS leadership has chosen to bide its time, awaiting the Speaker’s decision on the disqualification petitions. Sources suggest the party is prepared to escalate the matter legally if the ruling is not in their favor.

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While publicly countering the Congress’ tactics to avoid disqualification of the defected MLAs, the BRS is reportedly considering filing similar legal action against seven other defected MLAs. Party insiders indicate that BRS will first await the Speaker’s decision on the three initial cases before making any further moves. Should the outcome be unfavorable, the BRS is ready to approach the High Court and, if necessary, the Supreme Court.

The Telangana High Court’s ruling came after BRS MLAs KP Vivekananda and Padi Kaushik Reddy, along with BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, filed petitions questioning the inaction of the Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker on the disqualification pleas. The absence of updates on the status of these pleas prompted the Court to instruct the Assembly Secretary to place the disqualification files before the Speaker, ensuring a decision is made within the stipulated four-week period.

“As the High Court gave clear instructions with regard to the disqualification petitions against three defected MLAs, the BRS has decided to wait till the deadline is completed. If the Speaker decides to act against the defected MLAs, it will set a precedent for the disqualification of the remaining seven MLAs. If there is no decisive action, the High Court will reopen the case suo moto. If he calls for a hearing, but keeps postponing the decision, we can still approach the High Court. In case of no favourable outcome, we will pursue our options in the Supreme Court,” a BRS legal cell leader told Telangana Today.

Meanwhile, the party president and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao reportedly asked the party leaders to leave no stone unturned to expose the duplicity of the Congress at every possible juncture. The BRS leaders were also instructed to aggressively counter the Congress tactics to divert attention from the issue, rather than taking a soft route, especially after the attack on Huzurabad MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy.