Hyderabad: After petitioning the Supreme Court over defected MLAs, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has now shifted its focus to party-switching MLCs. The party has decided to seek the disqualification of six MLCs elected on the BRS ticket who later joined the ruling Congress.
Party sources said Working President K.T. Rama Rao will travel to Delhi along with the BRS legal cell to file a petition in the Supreme Court on Monday. Those named in the petition include Baswaraju Saraiah, Bhanu Prasad Rao, Dande Vittal, M.S. Prabhakar, Yegge Mallesham, and Boggarrapu Dayanand.
The BRS had earlier approached the Supreme Court over defected MLAs, following which the apex court directed the Speaker to decide on the matter within three months. The party maintains that disqualification of the defectors is inevitable and that by-elections for their seats are certain.
In the last Assembly elections, the BRS secured only 39 seats and lost power. Since then, ten MLAs, including Danam Nagender, Kadiyam Srihari, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, Prakash Goud, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, Pocharam Srinivasa Reddy, Arekapudi Gandhi, Sanjay, and Kale Yadaiah, have joined the Congress. The BRS is pursuing legal action to disqualify them as well.
Meanwhile, the party is also preparing to challenge the Banakacharla project in the Supreme Court. Former Irrigation Minister Harish Rao is expected to lead the legal move, with sources indicating that K. Chandrashekar Rao has already consulted legal experts on the matter.