HYDERABAD: Union minister G Kishan Reddy said the Telangana High Court’s verdict disqualifying Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender under the Anti-Defection Law is a “major slap” in the face of the ruling Congress government in the state.
He said that the high court had rightly set aside the Assembly Speaker’s earlier decision.
In a post on X platform, he wrote: “This has delivered a strong warning against those mocking the will of the people and working in contravention of the Constitution. Today it was the Congress, but before that it was the BRS that resorted to such undemocratic means. Both the Congress and BRS have repeatedly attracted defections against the public’s will. (sic)”
Targeting BRS supremo and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, he said: “Opportunistic political culture was started by KCR in the past, when defectors such as Sabitha Indra Reddy were immediately rewarded with ministerial portfolios. Congress and BRS have both actively encouraged horse-trading against the public’s will; they are two sides of the same coin. Public mandates mean nothing to these power-hungry parties.”
Welcoming the verdict, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said: “The Speaker is supposed to act independently. But when the same institution acts in a partisan manner, this verdict shows how the judiciary can intervene.”
BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheswar Reddy said that at least now, the Congress should change attitude and ask the MLAs who have switched sides to resign and seek fresh mandate.
‘A victory for democracy’
State BJP president N Ramchander Rao, meanwhile, said: “Maheshwar Reddy has been fighting to safeguard democracy and justice. This verdict is a victory for democracy and Constitution.”
Taking a dig at Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, he also said that the verdict was a slap in the face of the Congress. He reminded Rahul that his father Rajiv Gandhi had introduced the Anti-Defection Law.