BRS seeks disqualification of MLA who joined Congress

Hyderabad : The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Monday urged Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar to disqualify its MLA D. Nagender, who joined the Congress.

A group of BRS MLAs met the Speaker to submit a petition, seeking the disqualification of former minister Nagender, who switched parties on Sunday, drawing his attention to the recent Supreme Court order that the decision on disqualification should be taken in three months.

MLAs P. Kaushik Reddy, K. Venkatesh, Bandari Laxmi Reddy, and Mutha Gopal met the Speaker at the direction of the BRS President and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. The BRS urged the Speaker to respect the Constitution by acting as per the Anti-Defection Act.

The MLAs argued that switching loyalties after getting elected on the ticket of a party is not proper. They recalled that in the past, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had termed Nagender a "Beedi seller".

"Will he sell 'beedis' now after joining Congress,” they asked. Kaushik Reddy said that BRS is ready to give a befitting reply to the Congress.

"You are saying you have opened the gate but we will show what happens when the time comes for us to open the gate," he said responding to the Chief Minister’s statement. He said while they want this government to continue for five years, they will not be responsible for internal turmoil in Congress and the "Khammam and Nalgonda Congress bombs may explode anytime".

Meanwhile, senior BRS leader and former MP Vinod Kumar has said that Nagender, who joined the Congress, can’t escape disqualification. He said in the past, Speakers used to delay decisions on disqualification petitions but that situation has now changed with the Supreme Court order.

Vinod Kumar said with the court setting a deadline for the Speaker, a decision on the disqualification petition can’t be delayed.