Hyderabad, Sep 18 (IANS) The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) on Friday hailed the Telangana High Court order disqualifying MLA Danam Nagender for defection and said other turncoat MLAs will meet the same fate.
BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao predicted the same fate for the other MLAs who switched loyalties to Congress after getting elected on BRS tickets.
“Satyameva Jayate!! BRS MLA Danam Nagendar, who defected to Congress, got disqualified by the Hon’ble High Court today. The rest of the defectors will also meet the same fate soon,” Rama Rao posted on X after the High Court set aside the decision of the Assembly Speaker, rejecting the petitions for disqualification of Nagender.
BRS Deputy Leader in Telangana Assembly, T. Harish Rao said that Nagender episode exposed Congress’ double standards on the Constitution.
“The Telangana High Court’s judgment in the Danam Nagender disqualification case has exposed the Congress Government’s double standards. Danam Nagender won on a BRS ticket, defected to Congress, and continued as an MLA while contesting the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate. Yet, instead of protecting the sanctity of the people’s mandate, the Speaker’s decision gave him protection. The High Court’s intervention has now raised serious questions about the Speaker’s handling of the matter,” said Harish Rao.
The former minister said that Rahul Gandhi goes around the country claiming to be the champion of the Constitution, while the Congress manifesto in 2024 promised to amend the Tenth Schedule and make defection an automatic ground for disqualification.
“But when defections benefit Congress, where does that constitutional commitment disappear? In the light of the High Court’s order, the Speaker should, at least now, act on the disqualification petitions against the other defected MLAs in accordance with the Constitution and the law. If Rahul Gandhi is truly committed to protecting the Constitution, he should instruct CM Revanth Reddy to ask all the defected MLAs to resign and seek a fresh mandate from the people,” he said.
“The Congress party and Rahul Gandhi must answer the people. Is their commitment to the Constitution genuine, or does it change with political convenience? Satyameva Jayate!” Harish Rao posted on X
BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, who was one of the petitioners challenging the Speaker’s decision, termed the High Court order a victory for democracy.
He called the High Court verdict a slap in the face for Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
“This is a victory for BRS. Our party has achieved success after a two-and-a-half-year-long struggle. Revanth Reddy thought he could deceive the people forever but the court has put a brake on him,” he said.
Kaushik Reddy believes that just like Danam Nagender, the other eight MLAs who switched loyalties to Congress will certainly face disqualification.
He was confident of a resounding victory for BRS in the by-election for Khairatabad Assembly seat following Nagender’s disqualification. “Defector MLAs are in a situation where they cannot even claim which party they belong to. By-elections will be held in the remaining eight constituencies as well,” he said.
--IANS
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