Gazette notification declares Khairatabad assembly seat vacant

The government issued a gazette notification on September 26 declaring Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender disqualified, and recording the seat as vacant from April 23, 2024. Elected on a BRS ticket in 2023, he joined the Congress in March 2024 and contested the Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate. The High Court disqualified him on September 18 under Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a); the Supreme Court dismissed his petition on September 24.

Written by AI from Khairatabad — MLA & నియోజకవర్గం · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 28 Sept 2026, 7:39 pm IST

Source

Khairatabad — MLA & నియోజకవర్గం · read the original report ↗

#khairatabad#danam nagender#disqualification#telangana#anti-defection

Desk check · some claims need care

What the desk checked (5)

Government gazette notification issued on September 26 declaring Danam Nagender disqualified as MLA. — Attributed in source to the official gazette; year of issue not stated separately.
Khairatabad assembly seat officially vacant from April 23, 2024. — Figure and date appear in source, repeated consistently and attributed to the gazette and High Court.
Telangana High Court on September 18, 2026 disqualified him under Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a) in W.P. Nos. 8409 and 8647 (2026), setting aside the Speaker's decision. — Case numbers and provision cited in source; the 2026 dates sit oddly with the 2024 events and warrant editorial checking.
Supreme Court dismissed his petition on September 24, declining to interfere with the High Court order. — Attributed to the Supreme Court in the source; no bench or order details given.
BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and BJP MLA Yeleti Maheshwar Reddy petitioned Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar seeking his disqualification. — Named in source; no direct quotes or documents cited.

Written by AI from Khairatabad — MLA & నియోజకవర్గం · not yet reviewed by an editor · How we use AI · Report an error

Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

This is more than one vacant seat — it is a judicially drawn line under Telangana's defection politics. The disqualification of Danam Nagender, who won on a BRS ticket and then contested the Lok Sabha as a Congress candidate, came only after courts set aside the Speaker's earlier decision, which is politically awkward for the ruling side. The gazette recording the seat as vacant from April 23, 2024 hands the opposition a ready talking point about a system that tolerated defections.

Both a BRS and a BJP MLA petitioned the Speaker and ultimately prevailed, letting the opposition claim its joint pressure on defections worked.
The High Court setting aside the Speaker's decision, with the Supreme Court declining to interfere, revives the long-running political argument over the Speaker's discretion in anti-defection cases.
For Congress this is not just the loss of one MLA; the opposition's charge that it encouraged defections now has a court-anchored edge.
Nagender himself emerges with the least political capital — the Assembly seat is gone and the Lok Sabha attempt did not succeed.
With Khairatabad formally recorded as vacant, the constituency becomes a prestige contest for all three parties whenever the question of a poll arises.

What to watch — Watch whether the Election Commission moves on a Khairatabad by-election, which candidates the parties field, and how this ruling shapes pending cases against other defector MLAs.

The story does not establish whether or when a by-election will be held, what happens to other defection cases, or how the parties and leaders concerned have formally responded.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 7 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Danam Nagender won the Khairatabad assembly seat in Telangana on a BRS ticket in the 2023 assembly election, but joined the Congress in March 2024 and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate while still formally a BRS MLA. BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and BJP MLA Yeleti Maheshwar Reddy petitioned Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar seeking his disqualification under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law). The Telangana High Court, in W.P. Nos. 8409 and 8647 (2026), set aside the Speaker's earlier decision and declared him disqualified under Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a) read with Article 191(2). The Supreme Court declined to interfere, and the government has now issued a gazette notification recording the seat as vacant.

Key facts

The government issued a gazette notification on September 26 declaring Danam Nagender disqualified as MLA.
The gazette officially records the Khairatabad assembly seat as vacant from April 23, 2024.
Nagender won Khairatabad as a BRS candidate in the 2023 assembly election.
He joined the Congress in March 2024 and contested the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate while continuing as a BRS MLA.
BRS MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy and BJP MLA Yeleti Maheshwar Reddy approached Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar seeking his disqualification.
The Telangana High Court delivered its verdict on September 18 (stated in the source as 2026) in W.P. Nos. 8409 and 8647 (2026), setting aside the Speaker's earlier decision.
Disqualification was held under Tenth Schedule paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Constitution read with Article 191(2).
The Supreme Court dismissed Nagender's petition on September 24, saying there was no reason to interfere with the High Court's disqualification verdict.

Timeline

2023 assembly electionDanam Nagender wins the Khairatabad seat as a BRS candidate.
March 2024He joins the Congress.
2024 Lok Sabha electionContests from Secunderabad as a Congress candidate while still a BRS MLA; disqualification petitions filed with the Speaker.
April 23, 2024Date from which his disqualification takes effect and the Khairatabad seat is treated as vacant.
September 18Telangana High Court declares him disqualified under Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a) and sets aside the Speaker's decision.
September 24Supreme Court dismisses his petition against the High Court verdict.
September 26Government issues gazette notification recording the disqualification and the vacancy.

Who has a stake

Danam Nagender — Loses his MLA membership; disqualification effective from April 23, 2024 after both High Court and Supreme Court rulings.
Khairatabad constituency voters — Seat officially recorded as vacant since April 23, 2024, leaving them without a sitting MLA.
BRS (and MLA Padi Kaushik Reddy) — Petitioned against defection; the verdict vindicates its anti-defection complaint against its own 2023 winner.
BJP MLA Yeleti Maheshwar Reddy — Co-petitioner before the Speaker seeking disqualification.
Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar — His earlier decision on the disqualification petitions was set aside by the High Court.
Congress government in Telangana — Had to issue the gazette notification giving effect to the courts' rulings against an MLA who had joined the party.

Why it matters

The case shows courts stepping in where a Speaker's decision on anti-defection petitions is challenged, and fixing the date of disqualification retrospectively — here April 23, 2024. Recording the seat as vacant from that date in the official gazette has direct consequences for representation in Khairatabad and sets a reference point for similar defection disputes in Telangana.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Tenth Schedule paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Constitution deals with disqualification on grounds of defection; read here with Article 191(2).
Article 191(2) relates to disqualification of members of a State Legislative Assembly/Council.
Danam Nagender: elected from Khairatabad on a BRS ticket in 2023, joined Congress in March 2024, contested Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat.
Telangana High Court verdict of September 18 in W.P. Nos. 8409 and 8647 (2026) set aside the Speaker's decision.
Supreme Court dismissed Nagender's plea on September 24; gazette notification issued September 26.
Khairatabad assembly seat officially vacant from April 23, 2024.

Mains framing

The Khairatabad episode illustrates the core weakness of India's anti-defection framework: a legislator elected on one party's symbol joined a rival party and contested a Lok Sabha seat on its ticket while retaining his assembly membership, and the matter was resolved not by the Speaker's adjudication but by the High Court setting that decision aside under Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a) read with Article 191(2). The delay is telling — the disqualification was held effective from April 23, 2024, yet the gazette notification recording the vacancy came only on September 26, after the Supreme Court refused to interfere on September 24, leaving the constituency effectively unrepresented in the interim. The case underlines the need for time-bound disposal of defection petitions by the presiding officer, transparency in how such petitions are handled, and clarity on the effective date of disqualification so that vacancies are notified and filled promptly. Judicial review, as here, remains the corrective of last resort, but relying on it shifts a legislative accountability function to the courts.

Key terms

Tenth Schedule 2(1)(a): Constitutional provision under which a legislator is disqualified for voluntarily giving up membership of the party on whose ticket he was elected.
Article 191(2): Constitutional article dealing with disqualification of members of a state legislature, read along with the Tenth Schedule in this case.
Gazette notification: Official government publication that formally records a decision — here, the MLA's disqualification and the seat's vacancy from April 23, 2024.
BRS: Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the party on whose ticket Danam Nagender won Khairatabad in 2023 and which sought his disqualification.
W.P. Nos. 8409 and 8647 (2026): The writ petitions in which the Telangana High Court delivered its September 18 disqualification verdict.

Practice questions

Examine how judicial intervention in Speaker's decisions on defection petitions affects the balance between legislative autonomy and constitutional accountability, with reference to the Khairatabad case.
Discuss whether the Tenth Schedule has succeeded in curbing political defections in India. Suggest reforms based on recent cases of delayed adjudication.
Why does the effective date of a legislator's disqualification matter for representation and by-elections? Illustrate with the Khairatabad vacancy recorded from April 23, 2024.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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