Telangana Speaker to Hear Case of Defecting MLAs

Tensions continue to rise in Telangana politics as the Speaker, Gaddam Prasad Kumar, prepares to hear the case concerning defecting MLAs from the BRS party. The hearings will commence on November 6, when Bhadrachalam constituency MLA Tellam Venkatrao and Jagityala constituency MLA Sanjay Kumar will make their appearances. The following week, on November 13, Kamareddy MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Khairatabad MLA Arikepudi Gandhi are also scheduled to be heard.

The controversy arose when ten MLAs, previously elected under the BRS party banner, defected to the Congress party. In response, BRS leaders formally requested that the Speaker disqualify the defectors. After receiving inadequate feedback from the Speaker, they escalated the matter to the High Court and subsequently filed a petition with the Supreme Court.

On July 31, the Supreme Court directed the Speaker to reach a decision on the issue within a three-month timeframe, which has since lapsed on October 31. As a result, the Speaker will now interrogate the MLAs regarding their party switch.