Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will challenge in court the order of Telangana Assembly Speaker dismissing the petitions for the disqualification of five BRS MLAs who allegedly switched loyalties to the Congress party.

Terming Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s order ‘unconstitutional’, BRS MLAs K. Sanjay and K. P. Vivekanand said the Speaker pronounced a unilateral order without taking their arguments into consideration.

Sanjay and Vivekanand, who were among the petitioners on behalf of BRS, alleged that the Speaker failed to act impartially while discharging his duties as a tribunal head.

Talking to media persons, the BRS MLAs alleged that the Speaker delivered the verdict in line with the stand taken by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, who had defended the defection by the MLAs.

They pointed out that the 10 BRS MLAs not only joined the Congress party but also campaigned openly for the Congress party in various elections.

Sanjay said all 10 MLAs who defected to Congress should resign. He remarked that there will definitely be by-elections for 10 Assembly seats.

Reacting to the Speaker’s decision, senior BRS leader and former minister T. Harish Rao said that Rahul Gandhi’s “Save the Constitution” slogan stands exposed today with the Telangana Congress Speaker’s ruling on defected MLAs.

“This is not saving the Constitution, but politically manipulating and undermining it by the Telangana Congress Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy and his government. Preaching constitutional morality in Delhi while violating it in Telangana is the real face of Congress and Rahul Gandhi,” he posted on X.

The BRS criticised the Speaker for dismissing the disqualification petitions on the ground that there was no evidence of the MLA joining the Congress party. The party posted on its X handle the photographs of the defected MLAs wearing Congress ‘scarf’ after joining the ruling party in the presence of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

Pronouncing his orders on the disqualification petitions, the Speaker ruled that the Anti-Defection Law does not apply to the MLAs Tellam Venkat Rao, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T. Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Arekapudi Gandhi.

He made it clear that the MLAs are technically still in BRS.

The Speaker pronounced the orders on the petitions for the disqualification of five out of 10 BRS MLAs for allegedly switching loyalties to the ruling party.

The Speaker had completed the hearing on the petitions for the disqualification of eight MLAs and reserved the orders.

The Speaker is likely to pronounce on Thursday orders on the disqualification of three other MLAs - Kale Yadaiah, Sanjay Kumar and Pocharam Srinivas Reddy

The decision on the disqualification of two other MLAs, Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari, is likely after they submit their replies to the notices served on them.