Speaker summons four more BRS MLAs in defection case

The Legislature Secretariat has summoned four more MLAs of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) who are facing charges of defection to the ruling Congress party.

The Tribunal, headed by Speaker G. Prasad Kumar and constituted under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution dealing with the Anti-Defection Law, will conduct hearings on the charges made by the BRS leadership against MLAs Tellam Venkat Rao, Arekapudi Gandhi, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, and M. Sanjay Kumar from Thursday.

The hearings will be held over two days, divided into two sessions each. The Speaker’s office has also issued notices to the petitioners, BRS MLAs G. Jagdish Reddy, Kalvakuntla Sanjay, and K.P. Vivekananda, to appear for the hearings with their advocates. The Speaker will cross-examine the four MLAs again on November 12 and 13, according to the notification.

The process follows earlier hearings on petitions pertaining to BRS MLAs T. Prakash Goud, Kale Yadaiah, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, and Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy last month. The legislators, defending their stance, were guided by legal experts in answering the queries posed by the Tribunal.

While advocates for the petitioners presented a strong case against the legislators, the counsels representing the MLAs reportedly argued that their clients had not defected to the Congress and had met Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other Ministers only for constituency-related matters.

The Tribunal has completed hearings and cross-examination of the four MLAs and reserved its verdict. Two other BRS MLAs, Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihar, have not yet responded to the disqualification notices served on them. It remains to be seen what course of action the Speaker will adopt in their case.