Danam Nagender can’t escape disqualification: Vinod Kumar

BRS leader predicts disqualification for Khairatabad MLA due to Supreme Court ruling, emphasizes need for timely decisions.

Senior leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and former MP B. Vinod Kumar has observed that the party MLA from Khairatabad Danam Nagender can’t escape disqualification with the recent Supreme Court judgement in the matter of Eknath Shinde group MLAs of the Shiv Sena.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, he said that the presiding officers of the legislative bodies were not supposed to delay decisions in such matters as in the past and the Supreme Court had given clear instructions to the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly to take a decision on the Eknath Shinde group MLAs of the Shiv Sena.

As the courts had fixed timelines for decisions on such matters, the presiding officers could not sit over such matters as had been the practice in some cases in the past, Mr. Vinod Kumar said, adding that Mr. Nagender’s membership of the Assembly would be deemed to be annulled from the moment he sported the party scarf of the Congress.

It was for the Speaker now to respect the Constitution and the Supreme Court judgement and take a decision at the earliest. The Anti-Defection Law was made when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister in 1985 and in case the Congress party had any respect for the late leaders they should not encourage defections as it was they who opposed such developments in the State in the past.

On the money seized in the Prathima multiplex, Mr. Vinod Kumar said he had nothing to do with it although it was a fact that the complex belonged to his relatives.

Speaking separately, BRS leader from Chevella P. Karthik Reddy, son of MLA and former Minister P. Sabitha Indra Reddy, said Chevella MP G. Ranjith Reddy back-stabbing the BRS was height of opportunism as it was the BRS leadership that had enabled his political entry. He alleged that Mr. Rajinth Reddy had bought the Congress ticket by sparing hundreds of crores of rupees after telling the BRS leadership that he was not interested in contesting the election this time. He stated that BRS would achieve hat-trick win in Chevella this time and Mr. Ranjith Reddy would bite the dust as the people, as also some of the Congress groups, were ready to defeat him.