Speaker rejects BRS pleas against 10 MLAs, cites continued ₹5,000 contributions
HYDERABAD: Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar has dismissed disqualification petitions filed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) against 10 MLAs, holding that the party’s continued collection and acceptance of ₹5,000 per month from them towards legislature party office maintenance showed it still treated them as members.
In his order, the speaker said the BRS’s attempt to downplay the significance of the contributions was “untenable and absurd”, noting that the amounts continued to be collected even after the party alleged defection from April 2024.
The BRS rejected the reasoning, arguing that payment of membership fees or legislature party office charges could not override what it described as “clear evidence of defection”. Party general secretary and legal expert Soma Bharat said automatic salary deductions or bank deposits could not be treated as proof of continued party membership. “If anyone gets the amount by mistake, it can be refunded,” he said.
Authorisation and locus standi flagged
A key pillar of the ruling was the question of locus standi of the petitioners. The speaker pointed out that under Assembly rules, the leader of the legislature party—K Chandrasekhar Rao—must submit Form 1 within 30 days of the first sitting of the Assembly, specifying authorised members to communicate with the speaker. This mandatory procedure, he said, was not followed.
He added that in at least one case, a petition was filed without clarifying the capacity in which it was submitted or how the right to do so was acquired. The speaker also questioned why, if defection had indeed taken place, the BRS legislature party failed to formally notify him of any reduction in its strength of 38 MLAs within the stipulated 30-day period.
Evidence and media material
Referring to Rule 6(5)(b) of the Telangana Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on Ground of Defection) Rules, 1986, the speaker said petitions must be accompanied by authenticated media material with full details of publishers and sources. In the present cases, he noted, original newspaper clippings were not produced and electronic media extracts lacked mandatory particulars, rendering them invalid as primary evidence.
The MLAs named in the petitions denied joining the Congress and said meetings with chief minister A Revanth Reddy were solely to seek development funds for their constituencies. They argued that “mere exchanging of bouquet and coloured kanduva” was a courtesy and not indicative of political alignment.
‘Government stability not hit’
The speaker observed that even if 10 MLAs had defected, it would not affect the stability of the Congress government, which commands the support of 64 MLAs and was never dependent on the BRS members in question.
Of the 10 MLAs, nine claimed the ₹5,000 contribution continued to be deducted without interruption. Among those cited were Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Gudem Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), Kale Yadaiah and T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar). The issue of automatic deductions surfaced during proceedings before the Telangana High Court in April.
In his order, Prasad Kumar said the continued collection and acceptance of the monthly amount “cannot be construed as anything other than contributions made to the party itself”.
