Telangana Gazette formally records vacancy from April 23, 2024 after High Court disqualification is upheld by Supreme Court
Hyderabad, Sept 2026 : The Khairatabad Assembly constituency has been officially declared vacant following the disqualification of Danam Nagender as a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly under the anti-defection law.
The Telangana Legislative Assembly issued a Gazette notification stating that Nagender stood disqualified with effect from April 23, 2024, under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution. The notification, issued by Assembly Secretary Rendla Thirupathi on September 26, formally records the vacancy of the Khairatabad seat.
The notification followed a September 18 judgment of the Telangana High Court, which disqualified Nagender after holding that he had contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on a Congress ticket while continuing to be an MLA elected on a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) ticket. The Supreme Court subsequently dismissed Nagender’s challenge to the High Court order on September 24, finding no ground to interfere.
Nagender had won the Khairatabad Assembly constituency in the 2023 Telangana elections as a BRS candidate. He subsequently joined the Congress and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad on the party’s ticket.
The High Court judgment came on petitions filed by BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy. They had challenged Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar’s March 11, 2026 decision dismissing petitions seeking Nagender’s disqualification. The High Court set aside the Speaker’s decision and declared Nagender disqualified from April 23, 2024.
The court held that Nagender’s decision to file his nomination as a Congress candidate while being a BRS MLA amounted to voluntarily giving up his membership of the party under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule. It also declared that the Khairatabad Assembly seat had consequently become vacant and directed that copies of the order be communicated to the Telangana Legislative Assembly and the Election Commission of India.
Nagender challenged the High Court ruling before the Supreme Court, arguing against his disqualification. However, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana dismissed his plea. The apex court upheld the High Court’s interpretation of the anti-defection provisions and found no reason to interfere with the order.
The Gazette notification now provides the formal legislative record of the vacancy and sets the stage for a by-election in Khairatabad. The Election Commission of India will determine the schedule for the poll, taking into account the applicable statutory and administrative requirements.
Meanwhile, Nagender has indicated that he remains prepared to contest the constituency again if a by-election is announced. He has expressed confidence about his prospects and said he expected the result to surprise his political opponents. He has also maintained that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise would not affect the constituency.
The vacancy marks the latest development in a prolonged legal and political dispute over Nagender’s switch from the BRS to the Congress. The High Court proceedings and subsequent Supreme Court ruling have now resulted in the formal disqualification of the former Khairatabad MLA and the notification of the seat as vacant with retrospective effect from April 23, 2024.
