HYDERABAD: BRS Legislative Party leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy has approached the Telangana High Court, challenging the order passed by the Assembly Speaker dismissing his disqualification petition against Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender.
In his writ petition, the BJP leader has sought a direction to quash and set aside the Speaker’s order rejecting disqualification petition No 4 of 2024, which he had filed on July 1, 2024.
The petition alleged that Danam Nagender, who was elected on a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) ticket in the 2023 Assembly elections, had voluntarily given up his party membership by contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as a Congress candidate.
According to the petitioner, Nagender contested the Secunderabad LS seat on a Congress ticket without resigning from the BRS, which, he argues, attracts disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
Maheshwar further contends that the Speaker dismissed the disqualification petition without examining whether the MLA had “voluntarily given up membership” of the party. The petition also recounts earlier litigation in the matter.
A single judge of the high court had directed the Assembly secretary to place the disqualification plea before the Speaker. A division bench subsequently asked the Speaker to decide the issue within a reasonable time.
However, the Supreme Court later quashed that order and directed the Speaker to conclude the proceedings within three months, by October 31, 2025. The matter is expected to come up for hearing before the high court in the next few days.