Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 17 : Bharatriya Janata Party (BJP) leader NV Subhash on Monday demanded that Telangana assembly speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar take immediate action to disqualify 10 rebel Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs who defected to Congress in 2023.
Speaking to ANI, Subhash said that the BJP condemns such floor changes, where MLAs defect from one party to another without first tendering their resignations.
"They had been elected from the BRS party in the 2023 elections, and have defected to the Congress party. The BJP condemns such floor changes. The BJP demands that the Speaker of Telangana take immediate action to disqualify these 10 MLAs, and the Supreme Court has also issued a clear order that this matter should be decided within four weeks. Otherwise, the Supreme Court will take the matter into its own hands," the BJP leader said.
He asserted that the rebel MLAs must resign and face fresh mandates.
"If they have to cross the floor to the other party, they should resign and then get re-elected. If the Congress has the guts, it should ask these 10 MLAs to resign, hold a floor test, and go to the people to ask for a fresh mandate," Subhash said.
The 10 rebel MLAs defected to Congress in 2023 after it won the legislative assembly elections, allowing it to form the ruling government in Telangana.
His reaction comes after the Supreme Court today issued a stern warning to the Telangana Speaker and Congress leader Gaddam Prasad Kumar to decide disqualification pleas filed against 10 BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) MLAs who defected to the ruling party (Congress) in the State.
The Supreme Court has asked the Telangana Speaker and Congress to decide the disqualification petitions by next week or face contempt proceedings.
"It is for the Speaker to decide. We have already held that he doesn't enjoy constitutional immunity," the top court observed.
The apex court also issued a notice on the petition seeking contempt proceedings against the Speaker for allegedly failing to comply with its direction to decide disqualification pleas against 10 BRS MLAs.
The apex court on July 31 had directed the Telangana Speaker to decide the disqualification petitions.
Labelling the inaction of the Telangana Speaker as "gross contempt of the court", the SC said that it is for the Speaker whether he wants to decide the matter or face contempt by the court.