Kadiyam Appears Before Speaker In Defection Case

It is known that Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar has already given a clean chit to eight of the 10 BRS legislators against whom disqualification petitions have been filed. One of the remaining two, Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari today appeared before the Speaker in connection with the issue.

BRS MLA Vivekananda Goud, who filed the petition against Srihari, was also present and presented his arguments, which were recorded by the Speaker. He submitted the evidence in his possession during the hearing. The Speaker then adjourned the proceedings and directed Srihari to appear again on the 19th of this month, after the completion of the municipal elections.

Earlier, the Speaker had instructed Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender to attend the hearing scheduled for the 18th of this month. It is learnt that the Speaker will take a decision on the disqualification petitions only after the hearings in both cases are concluded. Political circles are closely watching the Speaker's decision, particularly in Nagender's case.

Meanwhile, following the hearing related to Srihari, Goud said that it was unreasonable for Srihari to claim allegiance to the BRS while allegedly working for the ruling Congress. He alleged that Srihari had gone to Delhi and joined the Congress in the presence of senior leader Rahul Gandhi, and accused Srihari of misleading the public. He demanded that Srihari stop preaching morality and admit before the Speaker that he had joined the Congress.

Goud also expressed displeasure over the delays in the hearing process, and said that the Speaker was attempting to shield the MLAs from disqualification.