BRS, BJP leaders welcome Telangana HC verdict disqualifying Danam Nagender as MLA

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], September 18 (ANI): Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Ravula Sridhar Reddy and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders Karuna Sagar and Prakash Reddy on Friday welcomed the Telangana High Court verdict disqualifying Danam Nagender as an MLA.
Speaking to ANI, Ravula Sridhar Reddy said the BRS welcomed the High Court verdict against Nagender, who was elected from the Khairatabad Assembly constituency on a BRS ticket and later joined the Congress.
“We welcome the verdict of the Telangana High Court disqualifying Danam Nagender, who was elected on the BRS party ticket from the Khairatabad Assembly constituency, defected to the Congress party and contested the Secunderabad Parliament seat on a Congress ticket. He had not resigned then; we had demanded his resignation. Assembly Speaker had disqualified those petitions,” Reddy said.
He demanded that Congress ask legislators who have defected to the party to resign.
“Setting this aside, the verdict by the High Court today was a strong message to those people who have defected from the BRS to the Congress party. If Congress has any respect, I demand that they make the legislators who have defected to their party resign," he further added.
Speaking to ANI, BJP leader and advocate Karuna Sagar said the Telangana High Court Division Bench had passed a significant judgment in the disqualification case.
"The Division Bench of the Telangana High Court has passed a significant judgment today in Danam Nagender's disqualification. Danam Nagender was elected as MLA on BRS; he subsequently joined Congress and contested the Lok Sabha seat from Secunderabad. High Court has also declared Danam Nagender's seat vacant and has also refused to keep the judgment in abeyance," Sagar told reporters.
Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Prakash Reddy also welcomed the verdict, saying the High Court had disqualified Nagender as an MLA after approximately two and a half years.
He said it was unfortunate that a person elected from one political party contested parliamentary elections for another political party.
"After approximately two and a half years, the High Court of Telangana disqualified Danam Nagender as an MLA. It is unfortunate that a person who was elected from one political party contested in the parliamentary elections for another political party. Despite previous judgments and established precedents, the Speaker unfortunately could not take a decision, amounting to the Speaker becoming part of politics, which is not a healthy atmosphere for Indian democracy. Generally, courts should not intervene in such matters, as the Speaker's office should remain superior. Unfortunately, when the Speaker acts in a partisan manner, the courts naturally step in to protect democracy, the democratic spirit, and the constitutional principles of the country. We welcome the High Court judgment," he said.
These remarks come after the Telangana High Court Division Bench on Friday disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender and declared the Assembly seat vacant.
The petition was filed by BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy. The court also rejected a plea seeking to keep the order in abeyance to facilitate an appeal before the Supreme Court. (ANI)