Clean chit to Nagender & Kadiam

Telangana Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar on Wednesday dismissed the petitions for the disqualification of two BRS MLAs who had allegedly switched loyalties to the Congress in 2024.

Pronouncing the orders on the petitions for the disqualification of Kadiyam Srihari and Danam Nagender, he said the petitioners have failed to provide evidence that the two MLAs defected to the Congress party.

The Speaker had last week completed hearing on the petitions filed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA Kaushik Reddy and BJP MLA Maheshwar Reddy for the disqualification of Nagender and the petition filed by BRS MLA K. P. Vivekanand for the disqualification of Srihari.

While giving clean chit to Nagender and Srihari, both former ministers, the Speaker ruled that they are technically still with the BRS.

With this the Speaker has dismissed petitions for disqualification of all 10 BRS MLAs who had switched loyalties to Congress in 2024, a few months after Congress came to power in the state.

In December 2025, he dismissed the petitions for the disqualification of five MLAs -- Tellam Venkat Rao, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T. Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, and Arekapudi Gandhi.

He dismissed the petitions for the disqualification of Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Kale Yadaiah on January 15.

On February 4, the Speaker dismissed the petition for the disqualification of BRS MLA Sanjay Kumar.

In all the cases, the Speaker ruled that the petitioners failed to provide evidence that the MLAs defected to the Congress, making it clear that the Anti-Defection Act could not be applied.

While the BRS had complained that the 10 MLAs openly joined the Congress and even sat in the Treasury Benches in the Assembly, the MLAs denied that they joined the ruling party.

They contended that they only met Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to seek funds for the development of their constituencies.

The Speaker’s ruling on the petitions for disqualification of two BRS MLAs came a day ahead of the hearing in the Supreme Court.

On February 6, the Supreme Court gave a final opportunity to the Speaker to decide the remaining disqualification petitions against BRS MLAs.

A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and A.G. Masih directed the Speaker to "positively" decide on the pending petitions within three weeks.

The Apex Court was hearing contempt petitions arising out of non-compliance with its July 31, 2025, order, by which it had granted three months to the Speaker to decide the disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs who allegedly crossed over to the Congress.