India's Supreme Court has handed a sharp constitutional rebuke to political defection — and Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy wasted no time in calling it exactly that. On Thursday, September 24, 2026, the BJP's Telangana state president welcomed the apex court's decision upholding the disqualification of Danam Nagender from the Khairatabad assembly seat, framing it as a slap — his word was 'cheek-slap' (chenapettu) — to both Congress and BRS.

What the Supreme Court Decided — and Why It Matters

The apex court upheld the Telangana High Court's earlier ruling disqualifying Danam Nagender, a sitting MLA, under India's anti-defection law. The core finding: Nagender had won his assembly seat on one party's symbol, then — while still holding that seat — contested the Lok Sabha elections as a candidate of a rival party. That, the courts held, was a textbook violation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.

The Tenth Schedule, inserted by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment of 1985, was designed to stop exactly this: legislators switching allegiances mid-term and betraying the mandate voters gave them. Kishan Reddy quoted the principle plainly — 'winning an MLA seat on one party's symbol and then contesting the Lok Sabha election as another party's candidate, while continuing to hold that post, is against the anti-defection law.'

Congress and BRS in the Dock — Kishan Reddy's Case

The minister's post does not spare either opposition party. He argues that Congress opened the door to defection — and BRS walked two steps further down the same road, together making a mockery of the public mandate (prajaabhishtam apahaasyam). In his framing, both parties share equal blame for the constitutional breach: one invited defectors, the other enabled the subsequent Lok Sabha candidacy.

The political geography matters here. Telangana has seen a churning triangle of loyalty shifts among BRS, Congress, and BJP since the state was carved out in 2014. The BRS — which governed the state from 2014 to 2023 — lost power to Congress in the assembly elections, and the resulting realignment has triggered a series of defection disputes, of which the Nagender case is the most prominent to reach the Supreme Court.

Khairatabad By-Election: BJP's Victory Claim

With Nagender's disqualification confirmed, the Khairatabad assembly constituency in Hyderabad now heads toward a by-election. Kishan Reddy is already planting the flag: 'BJP's victory in the upcoming by-election is certain. Satyameva Jayate!' — truth alone triumphs.

That is, of course, a political prediction, not a judicial finding. But the confidence speaks to BJP's calculation that the Supreme Court verdict has set the narrative firmly against Congress and BRS heading into the poll. Khairatabad voters, the minister says, will now deliver their own verdict on the two parties' conduct.

Indian courts have upheld anti-defection provisions in multiple states wherever legislators have contested elections under a rival banner while retaining their assembly seat. The Nagender case now adds Telangana to that line of precedents — and sets the stakes for whoever contests Khairatabad next.

A Supreme Court that has again reinforced the Tenth Schedule, a disqualified MLA, two opposition parties on the defensive, and a by-election looming: Khairatabad is about to become one of Telangana's most-watched contests of the year.