A sharp legal blow landed in Hyderabad's political arena on Thursday, 24 September 2026, as the Supreme Court of India upheld the disqualification of Danam Nagender, the former MLA from Khairatabad, rejecting his attempt to escape the High Court's ruling under the anti-defection law. BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao called the verdict a 'supreme slap' to both Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.

What the Supreme Court ruling means for Khairatabad

The apex court's decision closes Danam Nagender's legal avenue to reclaim his seat, leaving Khairatabad staring at a by-election. The constituency, located in the heart of Hyderabad, now becomes the immediate battleground where the political consequences of the defection will be tested at the ballot box. KTR framed the outcome bluntly: 'The people of Khairatabad will soon give their verdict on three years of betrayal, broken promises and misrule.'

Danam Nagender had challenged his disqualification before the courts after the Telangana Assembly Speaker ruled against him under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution — the anti-defection provisions introduced by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment of 1985. The High Court upheld that ruling; the Supreme Court has now declined to disturb it.

The anti-defection law and Telangana's post-2023 churn

The Tenth Schedule was designed precisely for moments like this — to prevent elected representatives from switching political allegiances after winning a mandate on a party ticket. Since the Congress party's victory in the 2023 Telangana assembly elections, the state has seen a wave of defection-related petitions, reflecting the turbulence that often follows a change of government in a competitive state.

Indian courts have repeatedly emphasised timely disposal of such cases and have defined the outer limits of judicial review over a Speaker's disqualification orders. The Supreme Court's refusal to interfere here follows that established jurisprudential line.

KTR's political frame: mandate theft and accountability

KTR's post pulls the ruling into a larger political narrative. He accused both Rahul Gandhi and Revanth Reddy of believing 'they could steal a mandate through defections and hide behind the Speaker' — a direct charge that the Congress government in Telangana facilitated or benefited from Nagender's switch. The BRS, which lost power in 2023 after a decade in government, is sharpening the Khairatabad by-election into a referendum on the Congress administration's first three years.

Whether voters in Khairatabad deliver the verdict KTR anticipates will depend on candidate choices, local sentiment, and the by-election date — none of which have been officially announced yet. But the legal road for Danam Nagender, at least at this stage, has closed.