Telangana Speaker Rejects BRS MLA Disqualification Pleas

Opposition slams decision after petitions against 10 MLAs accused of switching to Congress are dismissed

March 11, 2026: Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Speaker of the Telangana Legislative Assembly, on Wednesday dismissed petitions seeking the disqualification of two Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs accused of switching allegiance to the ruling Indian National Congress. The pleas against Danam Nagender and Kadiam Srihari were rejected, effectively closing the disqualification cases involving a total of 10 BRS legislators. The petitions had alleged that the MLAs defected to Congress after winning the 2023 Assembly elections as BRS candidates.

Petitions were filed by several BRS MLAs and also by A Maheshwar Reddy of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Opposition leaders argued that Nagender had even contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate, questioning how he could avoid disqualification. However, Speaker Prasad Kumar confirmed that the pleas had been dismissed, noting that similar petitions against eight other BRS MLAs had already been rejected earlier.

Reacting strongly, BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao called the decision an “assault on democracy,” saying it encouraged defections and undermined the people’s mandate. N. Ramchander Rao, president of the BJP’s Telangana unit, also criticised the ruling, describing it as a mockery of the Constitution and targeting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his claims of defending constitutional values. Meanwhile, Nagender said contesting elections was his fundamental right, while Srihari questioned why the petitions were filed by individual MLAs rather than the BRS party itself.