Danam Nagender disqualified under anti-defection law, Khairatabad seat vacant

The Telangana High Court disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender under the anti-defection law, delivering a judgment with far-reaching consequences. A bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin set aside Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar's earlier order, ruling that Nagender stands disqualified with effect from April 23, 2024 — the date tied to his Lok Sabha candidacy. The court held that the Speaker had failed to properly weigh the significance of Nagender contesting a parliamentary election on a Congress ticket while still holding his Assembly seat as a BRS legislator.

The judgment had been repeatedly delayed. The High Court had reserved its verdict on the matter back on February 21, 2026, but the pronouncement was pushed multiple times before finally being delivered on September 18.

The Legal Challenge
The case reached the High Court after BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy filed petitions challenging the Speaker's decision. They argued that Nagender's decision to contest the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat as a Congress candidate — despite being elected as an MLA on a BRS ticket — amounted to voluntarily giving up his party membership, triggering disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. Nagender's legal team countered that news reports and photographs of him meeting Congress leaders were insufficient proof of formal defection, and that official Assembly records still listed him as a BRS member.

The Speaker's Earlier Ruling
Acting on a Supreme Court directive, Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar had examined disqualification petitions filed by the BRS against several MLAs accused of defecting to the Congress after the 2023 elections. He ultimately rejected the petitions against Nagender, concluding there was insufficient evidence of a legal defection — a decision the BRS criticized sharply at the time.

The Roots of the Case: 2023–2024
Danam Nagender won the Khairatabad Assembly seat in the 2023 Telangana elections on a BRS ticket. In March 2024, he left the BRS and joined the Congress party, going on to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. He lost that parliamentary race but retained his Assembly seat, prompting opposition parties to seek his removal as MLA for defection.