Archive · 19 Sep 2026
Telangana High Court Disqualifies BRS MLA After Congress Defection
The Telangana High Court said Danam Nagender can no longer remain an MLA.
Nagender had won the Khairatabad seat as a BRS candidate.
He later joined Congress without resigning from the Assembly.
He also ran in the 2024 Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket.
The court disagreed with the Assembly Speaker’s earlier decision not to disqualify him.
The ruling makes the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant.
BJP and BRS leaders celebrated and criticized both Congress and political defections.
Nagender said he would fight the next election and had not yet decided whether to appeal.
The Telangana High Court disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender from April 23, 2024, under the anti-defection issue.
The court overturned Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s decision rejecting petitions against Nagender.
Nagender won the 2023 Assembly election as a BRS candidate, later joined Congress, and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad.
BJP and BRS leaders called the ruling a victory for democracy and criticized Congress and earlier BRS governments over defections.
Nagender welcomed the verdict and said he would contest and try to win the next election, while saying he had not decided whether to appeal.
- Who
- Danam Nagender, the Telangana High Court, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, and BJP and BRS leaders.
- What
- The High Court disqualified Nagender as an MLA and overturned the Speaker’s earlier rejection of disqualification petitions.
- When
- The verdict was reported on Friday, September 18; the disqualification was effective from April 23, 2024.
- Where
- The Telangana High Court in Hyderabad; Nagender represented Khairatabad and contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
- Why
- The court ruling followed allegations that Nagender gave up his BRS membership by joining Congress and contested a Lok Sabha election on its ticket while remaining an MLA.
BJP and BRS leaders
Congress-side position reported in the articles
Meaning of the verdict
BJP and BRS leaders
BJP and BRS leaders described the ruling as a victory for truth and democracy and a major setback for the Congress government in Telangana.
Congress-side position reported in the articles
The articles report the Speaker’s earlier decision rejecting the petitions but provide no separate Congress response to the High Court verdict.
Political defections
BJP and BRS leaders
BJP and BRS leaders criticized defections and accused Congress and BRS of encouraging horse-trading or using undemocratic practices. Kishan Reddy also referred to defections during the earlier BRS government.
Congress-side position reported in the articles
The articles state that Nagender moved from BRS to Congress and that the Speaker had rejected petitions against him, but they do not provide a detailed Congress defense.
Role of the legislature and courts
BJP and BRS leaders
Bandi Sanjay Kumar said judicial interference in the legislature’s discretionary powers is not healthy for democracy, but argued the situation arose because the Speaker had yielded to the Congress government.
Congress-side position reported in the articles
The High Court overturned the Speaker’s decision and declared Nagender disqualified; the articles do not provide a separate Congress position on the court’s role.
- Disqualified MLA
- Danam Nagender
- Assembly constituency
- Khairatabad
- Former party
- Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)
- New party affiliation
- Indian National Congress
- Effective date
- April 23, 2024
- Lok Sabha contest
- Nagender contested from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket in 2024
- Earlier decision
- Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar had rejected petitions seeking Nagender’s disqualification
