Danam To Appear For Hearing on Disqualification Petition on Friday

Hyderabad: Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar will hear the disqualification petition filed by the BRS against Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender on Friday.

Nagender had on January 25 filed his counter, requesting the Speaker to dismiss the petition stating that he never had quit the BRS nor received any suspension notice from the BRS leadership.

"I have no information that the BRS has suspended me from the party,” Nagender said in his counter. Referring to a charge in the BRS petition, the MLA said: “In March 2024 I attended the Congress meeting in my personal capacity. The BRS is assuming that I have switched parties based on speculative media reports," he said.

Nagender urged the Speaker to not consider events that occurred after the initial petition was filed, such as his contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, and requested for dismissal of the petition.

The BRS filed the petition after Nagender, who was elected on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections, contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. The Speaker is expected to record evidence from the petitioners during the Friday hearing before delivering a final verdict.

Out of the 10 MLAs facing the petitions, the Speaker has dismissed disqualification petitions against eight, including Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), Kale Yadaiah (Chevella), M. Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), Arekapudi Gandhi (Serilingampally), Gudem Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), T. Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy (Gadwal) and Tellam Vekat Rao (Bhadrachalam).

With Friday’s hearing the petition against Nagender, the move filed by the BRS against Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiam Srihari remains pending.