Telangana HC Disqualified Danam as MLA, Who’s Next?

Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender has lost his Assembly membership after the Telangana High Court delivered a major verdict in the defection case. The court set aside the decision of Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar and disqualified Nagender under the anti-defection law. The disqualification is effective from April 23, 2024.

Nagender was elected as an MLA from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections. He later joined the Congress and, without resigning as an MLA, contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket. He lost that election but continued as the Khairatabad MLA.

His decision to contest the Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket became a major point in the disqualification case. BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and BJP Legislature Party leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy challenged the Speaker’s decision after the disqualification petitions against Nagender were rejected.

The Speaker had earlier concluded that there was not enough evidence to establish that Nagender had legally defected. Nagender’s legal team also argued that media reports, photographs and his appearances with Congress leaders could not by themselves prove that he had voluntarily given up his BRS membership.

The High Court, however, overturned that decision and held that Nagender stood disqualified under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The ruling now raises the possibility of a by-election in Khairatabad. Similar defection petitions involving other BRS MLAs who joined Congress are also pending, making the verdict politically significant for Telangana.