Hyderabad: With the Supreme Court directing the Telangana assembly speaker to decide on the disqualification petitions of 10 BRS MLAs within three months, all eyes are now on whether the state will witness its first major bypolls post the 2023 elections.While the BRS is hopeful of disqualification and subsequent by-elections, the defected MLAs remain confident that no bypolls will be held this term.Reacting to the SC order, speaker G Prasad Kumar said on Thursday, “I haven’t seen the Supreme Court order yet. Once I receive it, I will consult legal experts.” He said that notices had already been served to some MLAs earlier but declined to elaborate. The speaker also remarked, “Please look into the comments of former vice president (Jagdeep) Dhankhar,” indirectly referring to Dhankhar’s assertion that the legislature holds greater authority than the judiciary. Legal experts point out that regardless of whether the speaker rules in favour of or against the disqualification petitions, the aggrieved party can challenge the decision in the Telangana high court and, subsequently, the Supreme Court. However, as per earlier judgments, both the high court and the Supreme Court are expected to dispose of such petitions within two months. If the speaker fails to decide within the stipulated three-month period, he must approach the Supreme Court to explain the delay and seek an extension, a legal expert explained.Following the Nov 2023 assembly elections, where Congress came to power, the party inducted BRS MLAs Danam Nagender (Khairatabad), Kadiyam Srihari (Station Ghanpur), Tellam Venkat Rao (Bhadrachalam), Pocharam Srinivas Reddy (Banswada), Kale Yadaiah (Chevella), M Sanjay Kumar (Jagtial), Krishna Mohan Reddy (Gadwal), G Mahipal Reddy (Patancheru), T Prakash Goud (Rajendranagar), and Arikepudi Gandhi (Serilingampally). Initially, the BRS filed disqualification petitions against Danam, Kadiyam and Venkat Rao, later expanding it to include all ten.Of these, Danam contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket, just months after winning on a BRS ticket. Arikepudi was appointed chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, a move opposed by BRS, while Pocharam was made govt advisor. Some MLAs like Mahipal Reddy and Krishna Mohan have publicly claimed they remain with the BRS. Interestingly, while attending Congress Legislature Party meetings, these MLAs have refrained from signing the attendance registers but continue to sit on the treasury benches in the assembly.After multiple petitions in the high court and the Supreme Court, the speaker issued notices to the defected MLAs in Jan 2025. However, the MLAs reportedly sought additional time to respond.BRS leaders claim this could become the largest disqualification case in the history of both Telangana and united Andhra Pradesh. They recall a similar episode from 2007-08 when nine BRS MLAs joined the Congress in undivided AP. The then speaker ruled for disqualification, but six MLAs resigned before it took effect; only three were formally disqualified.If disqualifications are upheld and bypolls held, this would be Telangana’s most significant by-election yet — far larger than past bypolls that were limited to one or two seats. The closest comparison is the 2008 bypolls for 18 assembly and four Lok Sabha seats, when BRS lawmakers resigned for the Telangana statehood movement, but the party could retain only a handful.
