Hyderabad: Alleging that the Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasada Kumar failed as Tribunal Chairman, the BRS MLAs have made it clear that they will pursue a legal fight on Speaker’s verdict on their disqualification petitions.

Speaking at the Assembly media point on Wednesday after the Speaker delivered his verdict on disqualification petitions, BRS MLAs KP Vivekananda and K Sanjay said that the Speaker delivered a unilateral verdict without considering BRS MLAs’ argument.

Quthbullapur MLA KP Vivekananda said that the BRS party opposes the decision given by the Speaker as the Tribunal Chairman. The Speaker has legal authority only when the Assembly is in session. The Speaker has completely failed as the Tribunal Chairman. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had previously said that nothing would happen if MLAs changed parties.

“The Speaker’s judgment now reflects the Chief Minister’s words from that time. People are laughing at the Speaker’s verdict. The MLAs, who defected, openly campaigned for the Congress party-backed sarpanch candidates. The BRS party will not remain silent. It will pursue a legal battle,” he said.

Even after the Supreme Court made strong remarks, a proper judgment was not delivered. The judgment was given only regarding five individuals. When asked about the remaining five, no proper answer was given, Vivekananda said.

He said that the Supreme Court said that action should be taken if the proceedings are prolonged. Despite notices being issued to Kadiam Srihari and Danam Nagender, they did not respond. They should be disqualified. When we asked for a copy of the judgment, it was not given to us. We were told it would be uploaded soon. An attempt is being made to mislead the court by superficially claiming that a judgment has been delivered. They must explain the grounds on which the petition was dismissed. With what face will the MLAs who joined the Congress party go before the people? If Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has the courage, he should make 10 MLAs resign and face the by-elections. Today’s Speaker’s decision is the result of the BRS party’s struggle. We will definitely approach the High Court and wage a legal battle,” he said.

K. Sanjay said the Speaker’s verdict was against the Constitution. He alleged that the decision was not that of the Speaker but of the “King of Jubilee Hills Palace,” and claimed that the Chief Minister was pressuring the Speaker.

Sanjay said, “The judgment had already been decided at the Jubilee Hills Palace, and the order copy came from there. Our defected MLAs claimed they were sitting next to Congress members because the treasury benches were closer to the toilet. The Speaker delivered a unilateral verdict without considering our arguments. The Speaker’s conduct is against the Constitution. We will study the judgment copy and approach the High Court,” he said.