Telangana High Court disqualifies Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender

The Telangana High Court on Friday disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagendar under the anti-defection law, setting aside the Speaker’s decision. The petition was filed by BJP floor leader Aleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy challenging his disqualification.

Hyderabad: Bringing down the curtains on a 30-month-long legal battle, the Telangana High Court disqualified Danam Nagender as a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Friday.

The judgment delivered by a Division Bench consisting of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G M Mohiuddin set aside State Assembly Speaker G Prasad Kumar’s order dismissing the disqualification petition. The court ruled that Nagender’s membership of the Assembly stood cancelled from April 23, 2024, the day on which he filed his nomination from the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency on a Congress ticket.

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The disqualification came following a judgment by the High Court on petitions filed by BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy, challenging the Speaker’s decision.

Nagender was elected to the Assembly from Khairatabad constituency in the State capital as the candidate of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), but defected to the Congress within three months. Later, he contested the Secunderabad Lok Sabha polls as a Congress candidate in 2024, triggering a wave of petitions seeking his disqualification under the Representation of the People Act.

Nagender was one of the 10 BRS MLAs who defected to the ruling Congress party in 2024.

The petitioners’ argument was that Nagender had contested on a Congress ticket in the Lok Sabha elections in May 2024 without resigning from the BRS.

The current judgment has come as a shot in the arm for the BRS, which has been waging a legal battle against the 10 turncoat MLAs seeking their disqualification. The Speaker had dismissed the BRS disqualification petitions and separate petitions were filed challenging the Speaker’s decision in respect of nine out of 10 MLAs.

The Speaker on March 11, 2026, dismissed the petitions seeking the disqualification of Kadiyam Srihari and Danam Nagender on the ground that the petitioners had failed to provide evidence that the two MLAs had defected to the Congress party. While giving a clean chit to Nagender and Srihari, the Speaker ruled that they were technically with the BRS. In December last year, the Speaker had dismissed the petitions seeking the disqualification of Tellam Venkat Rao, Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy, T Prakash Goud, Gudem Mahipal Reddy and Arekapudi Gandhi.

He dismissed the petitions seeking the disqualification of Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and Kale Yadaiah on January 15, 2026. On February 4, 2026, the Speaker dismissed the petition seeking the disqualification of BRS MLA Sanjay Kumar. In all the cases, the Speaker ruled that the petitioners had failed to provide evidence that the MLAs had defected to the Congress, making it clear that the Anti-Defection Act could not be applied.