Hyderabad: In a relief to five of the 10 defected Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs, Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar on Wednesday dismissed the disqualification petitions filed against them.
The Speaker granted relief to Bhadrachalam MLA Tellam Venkat Rao, Gadwal MLA B Krishna Mohan Reddy, Rajendranagar MLA T Prakash Goud, Patancheru MLA G Mahipal Reddy and Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi, citing a lack of evidence that they had formally jumped to the Congress after the 2023 Assembly elections,
MLA defection case
Ten BRS MLAs who were accused of switching loyalties to the Congress include Danam Nagender (Khairatabad constituency), Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam), Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), M Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), Arekapudi Gandhi (Serilingampally), T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), B Krishna Mohan Reddy (Gadwal), G Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), and Kale Yadaiah (Chevella).
After BRS approached the Supreme Court in the disqualification case, the top court, on July 31, ordered the Telangana Speaker to decide on the petitions within three months.
The hearings began on September 29 with T Prakash Goud, K Yadayya, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy in the first batch, followed by Tellam Venkata Rao, M Sanjay Kumar, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, and Arekapudi Gandhi in the second batch.
Two MLAs, Danam Nagendar and Kadiyam Srihari, were issued notices for a third time in November after they failed to respond to earlier notices.
A contempt notice was also served to the Telangana Speaker on November 17 by the Supreme Court after he failed to decide on the petitions within the given time frame.
The hearings finally concluded on Wednesday, November 20.
