In Hyderabad, nine out of the ten Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who switched to the Congress party last year gathered at Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s residence on Sunday evening. They talked about their next steps amid growing uncertainty over their political future.
Everyone attended except Kadiyam Srihari from Station Ghanpur. This meeting comes right after the Supreme Court’s big ruling on July 31. The court ordered the Telangana Assembly Speaker to decide on disqualification cases against these 10 BRS defectors within three months. The order stemmed from petitions filed by BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao and other BRS leaders, who want all 10 disqualified for jumping ship to Congress since March last year.
The closed-door chat lasted over an hour, and sources say the MLAs focused on the legal and political fallout from notices issued by Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar. Even though they insist the meet was just about getting funds for constituency development, it’s clear the Supreme Court directive on MLA disqualification is front and center.
These MLAs still claim loyalty to BRS, pointing to Assembly records that list them as BRS members. They argue their visits to the Chief Minister only aim to push for local projects in areas like Khairatabad, Bhadrachalam, Banswada, Jagtial, Serilingampally, Rajendranagar, Gadwal, Patancheru, and Chevella.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai made it clear: the Speaker must act fast on these disqualification petitions, wrapping up within three months as per earlier Supreme Court judgments. BRS has urged the Speaker to follow through, highlighting the anti-defection law’s strict timeline.
The defectors include Danam Nagender (Khairatabad), 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).
As Telangana politics heats up, all eyes are on the Speaker’s decision, which could shake up the Congress government’s numbers in the Assembly. Stay tuned for updates on this BRS-Congress defection drama.
