Fear of disqualification: Arekapudi Gandhi denies joining Congress

Following BRS opposing Gandhi's appointment as chairman of the Assembly PAC, a post that is usually given to an Opposition member, the MLA has now taken a ‘U’ turn and is claiming that he is still in the Opposition.

Hyderabad: A day after the Telangana High Court issued directions for the Speaker to decide on the disqualification of three BRS MLAs who defected to the Congress, Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi, who had joined the Congress in July, is apparently trying to use technical aspects to escape disqualification.

Gandhi, who won the 2023 Assembly elections from Serilingampally constituency on a BRS ticket, had along with a few corporators joined the Congress on July 13 Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had formally welcomed him into the party by offering a party scarf in the presence of MLC Patnam Mahender Reddy and Government Advisor Vem Narender Reddy. However, following the BRS opposing Gandhi’s appointment as chairman of the Assembly Public Accounts Committee, a post that is usually given to an Opposition member, the MLA has now taken a ‘U’ turn and is claiming that he is still in the Opposition. He also claimed that the scarf offered by the Chief Minister was not of the Congress party but a general scarf, usually offered to people in temples!

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కాంగ్రెస్ పార్టీలో చేరిన శేరిలింగంపల్లి బీఆర్ఎస్ ఎమ్మెల్యే అరికపూడి గాంధీ.

జూబ్లీహిల్స్ నివాసంలో కండువా కప్పి పార్టీలోకి ఆహ్వానించిన ముఖ్యమంత్రి రేవంత్ రెడ్డి గారు.

ఎమ్మెల్యేతో పాటు సీఎం సమక్షంలో కాంగ్రెస్ లో చేరిన శేరిలింగంపల్లి కార్పొరేటర్ నాగేందర్ యాదవ్, మియాపూర్… pic.twitter.com/m787PbBU2v

— Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) July 13, 2024

“How can you say that I am with the Congress party? During the meeting with the Chief Minister, he offered me a scarf, which is generally offered in a temple. Was it a Congress scarf? Did he offer a Congress scarf to me or the corporators? I am still in the Opposition and am I not eligible?” Gandhi asked in an interview to a television news channel.

In a veiled attack at the BRS, he further wanted the people who question his ‘defection’ to ‘self introspect’. “You should question yourself. In 10 years, what we did and what is the current government doing? A few people do not have the moral right to question, they should question themselves first,” he said.

Interestingly, the MLA’s claim of being in the Opposition, which is technically correct since he is yet to be disqualified on grounds of defection, came only after questions were raised on him being appointed as the PAC chairman and after the High Court’s directions on action to be taken in the case of three other BRS MLAs – Tellam Venkat Rao, Kadiyam Srihari and Danam Nagender – who had defected to the Congress. The court’s orders were in connection with the BRS writ petition naming these MLAs but could be cited as a precedent by the BRS to press for the disqualification of the other seven MLAs who also had defected to the Congress. And this explains Gandhi’s sudden declaration that he was still in the Opposition.

Meanwhile, Legislative Affairs Minister D Sridhar Babu defended the appointment of Gandhi as PAC chairman, saying it was done as per Legislative Assembly rules.

“Arekapudi Gandhi declared that he is a BRS MLA. If the Public Accounts Committee chairman as any differences with the BRS, how are we related?” Sridhar Babu asked at a press conference here on Tuesday.The Legislative Affairs Minister also said the Congress government respected the judiciary and would comment on the High Court orders only after studying it in detail. He also claimed that the High Court had “instructed to initiate action within four weeks” and that “it was not a decision”.

Legal experts and senior advocates are studying whether courts can direct the Legislature on aspects of the Tenth Schedule, he said.