The first day of hearing on the disqualification petitions filed against 10 Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs for allegedly defecting to the ruling Congress reportedly witnessed heated arguments.Advocates representing MLAs T. Prakash Goud, Kale Yadaiah, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Bandla Krishnamohan Reddy attended the hearing conducted in the chamber of Assembly Speaker G. Prasad Kumar on Monday. They are learnt to have taken up cross examination of advocates who attended on behalf of the petitioners, BRS leaders K. Sanjay, Chinta Prabhakar and Palla Rajeshwari Reddy.The hearing follows the petitions filed by the BRS leadership against few of its legislators seeking their disqualification on the ground that they joined the Congress after winning on the BRS ticket. The Speaker had summoned the four legislators in the first phase following a Supreme Court’s directive to hear the arguments and take necessary action into the issue.Eight out of the 10 MLAs against whom the petitions were filed submitted their explanation to the Speaker. Two MLAs Danam Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari however did not respond to the communication addressed to them by the Speaker. Responding to the replies submitted by the legislators, the BRS leadership is learnt to have submitted documentary and video evidence to substantiate its charges on the defection of the MLAs.Hearing pertaining to the petitions filed against four legislators will continue for three more days and Mr. Prasad Kumar is expected to announce the dates of hearing relating to petitions against four more MLAs subsequently. It will be interesting to see what action the Speaker would take against Mr. Nagender and Mr. Srihari in the coming days. Published - September 29, 2025 08:36 pm IST