‘Defected’ MLAs meet CM Revanth amid Speaker’s notices

The Legislators elected on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) ticket and facing allegations of joining the Congress met Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy at his residence on Saturday (September 07) evening, apparently to discuss the future course of action, though they claimed that the meeting was to discuss ‘development of their constituencies.’

Out of the 10 legislators facing legal challenges on defection, only 9 were present, with Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiyam Srihari being the only absentee. The meeting gained importance after Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad issued notices to the MLAs following the directions of the Supreme Court.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted for over an hour, reportedly saw the Chief Minister holding discussions with the MLAs on the legal and political implications of the Speaker’s notices. The CM is said to have guided them on the responses to be sent to the Speaker strictly following the legal aspects.

Despite the BRS moving the court seeking their disqualification, the MLAs so far publicly declared their loyalty to the BRS and claimed that their meetings with the Chief Minister were only to seek funds for the development of their constituencies. The Assembly records still list them as BRS legislators.

Sources said that one of the MLAs has already responded to the Speaker’s notice, claiming that he was still in the BRS and merely wearing a scarf offered at the meeting doesn’t make him as joining any party.

Beyond the legal battle, MLAs reportedly used the meeting to press the Chief Minister for special funds to speed up development works in their constituencies. They also flagged internal clashes and differences among local leaders, seeking the government’s intervention.

In response, the Chief Minister is said to have assured them that the matter would be entrusted to TPCC president Mahesh Kumar Goud for resolution.

The MLAs met Advisor to the Government Vem Narender Reddy, during the recent Assembly sessions, seeking a meeting with the CM for the release of funds. Saturday’s meeting is an extension of that and nothing to do with Speaker’s notice to them, a Legislator said.