Telangana: Turncoat MLAs face imminent disqualification

This situation has set the stage for potential by-polls by the year-end, unless the Congress can orchestrate a highly unlikely merger of two-thirds of the BRS Legislative Party into its own over the next few weeks.

Hyderabad: Disqualification of the five BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress in Telangana appears imminent. This situation has set the stage for potential by-polls by the year-end, unless the Congress can orchestrate a highly unlikely merger of two-thirds of the BRS Legislative Party into its own over the next few weeks.

When the Defections began

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The defections began after Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy inducted Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender and the then Chevella MP G Ranjith Reddy into the party fold on March 17 this year. The BRS immediately submitted a disqualification petition to the Speaker on March 18 which is still pending. Shortly thereafter, Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiam Srihari and Bhadrachalam MLA Tellam Venkat Rao joined the Congress on March 31 and April 7 respectively.

When the BRS attempted submit another petition, there was no response from the Speaker. Hence, MLA KP Vivekananda submitted the petition seeking disqualification of the two MLAs on April 10 via registered post and email. Later, Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Jagtial MLA M Sanjay Kumar defected to the Congress on June 21 and 23 respectively. The BRS opted to submit the disqualification petitions against them via registered post and email, after the Speaker did not respond to their requests for an appointment.

BRS Legal Battle

With no response from Speaker Gaddam Prasad, BRS MLAs Padi Kaushik Reddy and KP Vivekananda took the matter to the Telangana High Court, seeking a directive to the Speaker to disqualify the defected MLAs. They cited a Supreme Court directive mandating that the Speaker must decide on disqualification petitions within three months. The Telangana High Court is scheduled to hear these writ petitions on July 3. The High Court also has to decide within three months, in accordance with paragraphs 30 and 33 of a Supreme Court order.

If the issue remains unresolved, the BRS plans to escalate it to the Supreme Court, seeking to include all defected MLAs in the disqualification plea.

Legislative and Legal Framework

Under Schedule 10 of the Indian Constitution, the Speaker is the tribunal responsible for deciding on MLA disqualifications. The Supreme Court’s ruling in the Keisham Megachandra Singh case reinforced that the Speaker must make such decisions within a reasonable period i.e. three months unless under exceptional circumstances. The Anti-Defection Law further stipulates that MLAs can avoid disqualification only if two-thirds of their party’s legislators merge with another party.

Ironically, the Congress leaders from Haryana have been seeking disqualificaion of the party MLA Kiran Choudhry who joined the BJP in the State, demanding the State Assembly Speaker to immediately disqualify her. They are citing the same cases and reasons raised by the BRS in Telangana, for disqualification of the turncoat MLA. In a written reminder to the Speaker earlier this month, Congress leaders Aftab Ahmed and BB Batra said that the Tenth Schedule empowered the Speaker to act suo motu upon awareness of any member’s voluntary relinquishment of party membership. The Congress had previously written a letter to the Speaker on June 19 for the disqualification.

Congress vs. BRS: The Political Chessboard

The Congress has defended its actions by pointing to previous defections engineered by the BRS (formerly TRS) twice after Telangana’s formation. The BRS, however, countered that their moves were constitutionally valid due to the two-thirds majority rule. Sources said currently, the Congress is mulling a similar strategy but faces a daunting challenge. To prevent disqualification of defected MLAs, the Congress needs 26 out of the 38 BRS MLAs to defect – a scenario political analysts deem highly improbable.

Political Implications

Political analysts argue that even with aggressive strategies, the Congress is unlikely to secure the necessary number of BRS defections to avoid bypolls. The BRS had previously managed a merger of 12 of 18 Congress MLAs into their fold after the 2018 Assembly elections, but the Congress lacks the time and leverage to replicate this success. The Supreme Court‘s stringent timelines further complicate the Congress’s task, making the likelihood of fresh by-polls increasingly probable.