Khairatabad Vacancy Officially Declared

The Khairatabad Assembly seat has been officially declared vacant following the disqualification of Danam Nagender as a member of the Telangana Legislative Assembly.

The 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. Consequently, the seat stands vacant.

Rendla Thirupathi, Secretary to the Legislature, issued the notification dated September 26 in pursuance of the Telangana High Court judgment delivered on September 18.

Nagender was elected from Khairatabad in the 2023 Assembly elections as a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate. He later switched loyalties to the ruling Congress and contested the Lok Sabha elections from Secunderabad constituency on a Congress ticket.

Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar had dismissed petitions filed by BRS MLAs and a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA seeking Nagender’s disqualification. The petitioners challenged the Speaker’s decision in the High Court.

On September 18, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin held that Nagender stood disqualified under Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule read with Article 191(2) of the Constitution, after contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate despite being elected as a BRS MLA.

The High Court declared the Khairatabad seat vacant. It directed that a copy of its order be communicated to the Secretary of the Telangana Legislative Assembly and the Election Commission of India.

The judgment came on petitions filed by BJP Legislature Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy and BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy, challenging the Speaker’s March 11, 2026 decision dismissing the disqualification petitions.

The High Court recorded that Nagender was elected as a BRS MLA in December 2023 and subsequently filed his nomination on April 23, 2024, as a Congress candidate for Secunderabad, where he campaigned against the BRS nominee.

Nagender approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court order, but the apex court dismissed his petition, finding no ground to interfere.

Meanwhile, Nagender said he was confident he would win the Khairatabad by-election. He told the media that the bypoll result would shock his political opponents. He also said the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) would have no impact on the constituency.