Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender admits defecting to Congress party

Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender admitted that he had defected to the Congress, triggering political debate amid disqualification proceedings. He said he remained a Congress MLA and would campaign across GHMC divisions ahead of civic polls.

Hyderabad: Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender on Wednesday triggered a fresh political storm by admitting that he had defected to the Congress. Ironically, he is the only MLA who is yet to respond to notices issued by Speaker Gaddam Prasad on disqualification petitions filed by the BRS.

Making candid remarks before the media here, Nagender categorically stated that he belonged to the Congress party and continued to be a Congress MLA. He also vowed to work to ensure the party’s victory in the upcoming Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections. He said he would campaign across all 300 GHMC divisions for the Congress and its ally, the MIM.

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“I do not know which party the other defected MLAs belong to. But I am definitely in the Congress,” he declared in response to media queries.

Nagender’s admission assumes significance amid ongoing arguments on the disqualification of 10 MLAs who defected from the BRS to the Congress. He was elected to the Telangana Assembly from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket in the 2023 elections. Soon after his victory, he crossed over to the Congress and later contested the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket, though he was defeated. As he had openly contested on a Congress ticket in the Lok Sabha elections, his disqualification appears inevitable, unlike others, which is suspected to have prompted his admission.

While the BRS has pursued the matter aggressively and filed petitions for disqualification of all 10 turncoat MLAs, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar recently dismissed disqualification petitions against five MLAs, citing lack of conclusive evidence that they had formally joined the Congress.