The Telangana High Court on September 18, 2026, disqualified Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender with retrospective effect from April 23, 2024, holding that he voluntarily gave up his BRS membership by contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate. The court also declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant.
The verdict came on petitions filed by BJP MLA Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, challenging the Telangana Assembly Speaker’s decision to reject the disqualification pleas against Nagender. The two petitions were heard together by the Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin.
The High Court set aside the Speaker’s orders in both disqualification petitions and declared Nagender disqualified under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution.
The court also declared the Khairatabad Assembly seat vacant and directed that its order be communicated to the Assembly Secretary and the Election Commission of India.
Reacting to the verdict, Danam Nagender said he welcomed the judgment and had not yet decided whether to approach the Supreme Court. He said he was ready to contest again if an election was announced. “If the election schedule is released, I will contest and emerge victorious,” he said.
BJP welcomes verdict, questions Rahul Gandhi
Welcoming the judgment, BJP Telangana state spokesperson and media in-charge N V Subhash described it as “a victory for democracy” and “a slap in the face to Congress backdoor politics”.
Subhash also questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, asking what answer he has when the Congress government in Telangana by violating the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law introduced through the 52nd Constitutional Amendment in 1985 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Subhash demanded that all MLAs who changed parties after winning on BRS tickets should resign and seek a fresh mandate from voters on their new party symbols.
What the High Court held
Nagender was elected from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections. On April 23, 2024, he filed his nomination as a Congress candidate for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat while continuing to be a BRS MLA. The court noted that he did not deny contesting the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate or campaigning against the BRS candidate.
The Speaker had rejected the disqualification petitions on March 11, 2026, holding that the evidence did not establish that Nagender had voluntarily given up his BRS membership. The Speaker had also relied on his continued recognition as a BRS member and the absence of disciplinary action by the party.
The High Court took a different view. It held that Nagender’s Form 26 affidavit, filed as a Congress candidate for Secunderabad on April 23, 2024, was sufficient evidence. The court said that contesting the Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate despite being elected as a BRS MLA amounted to voluntarily giving up BRS membership under the Tenth Schedule.
The court also declined to send the matter back to the Speaker, noting that the proceedings had continued for more than one-and-a-half years and almost three years of the Assembly’s term had already passed.
The wider defection issue
Nagender was one of 10 BRS MLAs against whom disqualification petitions were filed after they were elected on BRS tickets in 2023 and were accused of moving towards the Congress after the Assembly elections.
Before the High Court ruling, the Speaker had dismissed the petitions against the other nine: Kadiyam Srihari — Station Ghanpur; Tellam Venkat Rao — Bhadrachalam; Pocharam Srinivas Reddy — Banswada; Kale Yadaiah — Chevella; Sanjay Kumar — Jagtial; T Prakash Goud — Rajendranagar; Arekapudi Gandhi — Serilingampally; Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy — Gadwal ; Gudem Mahipal Reddy — Patancheru
The Speaker dismissed five petitions in December 2025, two in January 2026, Sanjay Kumar’s petition on February 4, 2026, and the petitions against Nagender and Kadiyam Srihari on March 11, 2026.
Why the Nagender verdict matters
The immediate effect of the judgment is that the Khairatabad Assembly seat is vacant. More importantly, the ruling has established a judicial finding in Nagender’s case that contesting a parliamentary election on another party’s ticket, while continuing as an MLA elected from the original party, can amount to voluntarily giving up membership under the Tenth Schedule.
The case also highlights the long delay in deciding Telangana’s defection petitions. The Supreme Court had directed the Speaker on July 31, 2025, to decide the petitions within three months. The Speaker subsequently passed orders on the cases, while the High Court challenge to Nagender’s case led to the September 18 judgment.
Why the numbers matter
The Congress won 64 of the 119 Assembly seats, while the BRS won 39. The BJP won 8, AIMIM 7 and CPI one. The Congress subsequently gained further strength through defections, including the movement of the 10 BRS MLAs.
Nagender’s political journey
Nagender began his electoral career with the Congress.
In brief: Congress (1994) → TDP (2004) → Congress → TRS/BRS (2018) → Congress (2024). He won the Assembly elections in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, 2018 and 2023, losing in 2014 and in the 2024 Secunderabad Lok Sabha election.
In March 2024, barely three months after winning the Assembly election as a BRS MLA, he crossed over to the Congress. On March 17, 2024, he formally joined the Congress in the presence of CM Revanth Reddy and then Telangana Congress in-charge Deepadas Munshi.
He was subsequently named the Congress candidate for Secunderabad and filed his nomination on April 23, 2024. He lost the Lok Sabha election to BJP’s G. Kishan Reddy.
