HYDERABAD: Stating that he had neither resigned nor voluntarily given up his primary membership of the BRS, Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender has urged Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar to dismiss the disqualification petition filed against him.
Though Nagender submitted his counter affidavit on January 25, its contents came to light on Wednesday after the Speaker scheduled hearings in two disqualification petitions against the legislator for January 30.
The move to schedule the hearings follows a recent Supreme Court direction to the Speaker to decide on the pending disqualification cases at the earliest.
Nagender was elected from the Khairatabad segment on a BRS ticket and is alleged to have switched loyalties to the ruling Congress, prompting BRS legislators to file disqualification petitions against him.
In his counter affidavit, a copy of which was accessed by TNIE, Nagender argued that the complainants relied solely on media reports and urged the Speaker to dismiss the petition.
“Neither the petition nor the annexures disclose any clear act of the respondent voluntarily giving up membership of the BRS. The allegations rest only on speculative media reports and an alleged personal meeting outside the House, which has no nexus to legislative conduct and does not constitute defection,” he argued.
He also claimed that he attended Assembly proceedings in his capacity as a BRS MLA. The Speaker will hear arguments from both sides on Friday.
Earlier, the Speaker had dismissed disqualification petitions filed against MLAs Kale Yadaiah, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, T Venkat Rao, B Krishnamohan Reddy, G Mahipal Reddy, T Prakash Goud and Arikepudi Gandhi, who had asserted that they continued to be part of the BRS.