HYDERABAD: Referring to a case in the Supreme Court seeking the disqualification of 10 party MLAs who had switched loyalties to the Congress from BRS while invoking constitutionally guaranteed immunity from judicial scrutiny over legislative proceedings, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday made it clear that there would be no byelections in the state.
He was responding to concerns raised by opposition MLAs in the state Legislative Assembly during the discussion on the Demands for Grants for 2025–26.
Highlighting the state government’s focus on welfare and development rather than byelections, he stated, “Honourable Speaker sir, through you, I want to assure the members that they need not worry about byelections. No byelections will happen. Even if they (BRS) desire to have one for their seats, there will be none. Even if their members switch sides, there will not be any byelections.”
Citing the defections that occurred during the BRS regime, Revanth stressed: “There is no change in justice, the Speaker’s office, the Constitution or the ruling and opposition parties, then how could there be a byelection? As per the Constitution drafted by Dr BR Ambedkar, previous precedents and parliamentary conventions, there will be no byelections. The same traditions and conventions followed by the first and second Assemblies would be followed.”
CM’s comments violation of the Constitution, alleges Harish
The chief minister’s comments reignited debate within the state’s political circles regarding the issue of MLA defections.
Senior BRS leader and MLA T Harish Rao questioned the chief minister’s statements at a time when disqualification petitions were pending before the apex court. He argued that the chief minister’s comments could amount to a breach of privilege and a violation of the constitution.
BRS MLAs KP Vivekananda Goud and Padi Koushik Reddy had filed petitions against 10 MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress, seeking their disqualification. Arguments on their petitions are scheduled for April 2, when the apex court will hear the arguments of the defected MLAs and the Assembly Secretary.
While hearing BRS MLAs’ petitions on Tuesday, the Supreme Court clarified that it would not delve into the merits of the case at this stage but questioned as to whether a high court can direct the Speaker to act in accordance with law within a particular
period. The court observed that while judgments from constitutional benches exist on similar matters, there is a lack of clarity regarding the timeframe within which the Speaker must make a decision on disqualifications.
Senior Advocate S Satyam Reddy stated that any legislator, including the chief minister, is entitled to express their opinion on any subject within the Assembly or Council. In this instance, the chief minister merely expressed his opinion and did not comment on the Court’s decision or any of its orders, he stated.