BRS celebrates Danam Nagender disqualification, says other defectors will follow

The BRS celebrated the Telangana High Court’s decision disqualifying Danam Nagender as Khairatabad MLA, with party leaders saying other defected MLAs could face similar action. They also demanded action on pending disqualification petitions and sought fresh mandates for defectors.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court’s decision disqualifying defected BRS MLA Danam Nagender triggered celebrations in the BRS on Friday, with its leaders asserting that the remaining defected MLAs would meet the same fate. Nagender had won on a BRS ticket, defected to the ruling Congress and continued as an MLA while contesting the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate.

BRS working president KT Rama Rao welcomed the judgment, declaring, “Satyameva Jayate,” and asserted that the other defectors would also be disqualified soon.

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BRSLP deputy leader T Harish Rao said the judgment exposed the Congress government’s double standards on defections. He alleged that the Speaker’s decision protected Nagender and said the High Court’s intervention raised questions over the handling of the disqualification petition. He asked the Speaker to act on the petitions against the other defected MLAs in accordance with the Constitution and law.

Referring to the Congress manifesto promise to amend the Tenth Schedule and make defection an automatic ground for disqualification, he urged Rahul Gandhi to ask all defected MLAs to resign and seek a fresh mandate.

BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who was one of the petitioners, termed the judgment as a victory for democracy and the BRS. He said the party had pursued the issue for nearly two-and-a-half years. He said the judgment was a setback to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and claimed the remaining eight defected MLAs would also face disqualification.

He predicted by-elections in the eight constituencies and exuded confidence that the BRS would win the Khairatabad by-election. He also demanded that the Ethics Committee examine the defections, including that of Kadiyam Srihari.