Hyderabad: It’s highly unusual for any legislator to praise their party’s main opposition, but it seems like Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender is missing his former bosses in the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Nagender, who defected from the BRS to the ruling Congress after the 2023 Assembly elections, surprised everyone by praising BRS leaders K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), KT Rama Rao, and Harish Rao in an interview with a local social media channel.
Danam Nagender in the interview said that KCR monitors everything from his residence, and went on to add that BRS ex-ministers KTR (current working president of party) and Siddipet MLA Harish Rao are capable and intelligent leaders. “I still hold KCR in high regard,” he stated. His interview was very interesting because the Telangana Speaker had earlier in March dismissed the disqualification petition against the Khairatabad MLA that was filed by the BRS.
However, Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Alleti Mahesh Reddy had challenged it in the Telangana High Court, which in the same month sent notices to the Speaker and Danam Nagender. Why the Khairatabad MLA may be more worried than the others is because the chances for his disqualification are higher given that there is irrefutable evidence of his shifting sides.
Post the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, about 10 MLA from the BRS including Nagender had defected to the ruling Congress. Danam even went on to contest as the Congress candidate for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 General Elections but lost. So despite the Speaker dismissing the disqualification petition, there is very clear evidence that he shifted sides regardless of him maintaining that he never quit the BRS.
When any legislator shifts or defects from their party, unless two-thirds of legislators also move with them, the anti-defection law comes into effect under which they are mandated to resign from their seats and a by-election is necessitated.
Not taking him back: BRS
BRS leaders Siasat.com spoke to were clear that Danam Nagender and all the other MLAs who defected will not be taken back. “In the case of Danam, he is trying to come back but that is not going to happen. The other side of the story is that the BJP wants to get him disqualified so that there can be a by-election they can contest. The BJP did not do well in the Panchayat elections held earlier, so their cadres are not very spirited. So a by-poll win may help and Khairatabad has a sizeable Muslim population that they can use to polarise the election if held,” said a senior BRS functionary who did not want to be quoted.
Danam still in the party, but not involved in decision making: Congress leaders
Congress leaders however said that he is still “very much in the party”. A senior TPCC leader said that he is still in the ruling party and that he may have praised the the BRS due to the chances of his disqualification in the ongoing court case. “He has been a very powerful Congress leader from many years but because he left and went to the BRS and returned, currently he has no standing in the leadership or decision making of the party,” he told Siasat.com.
It is to be seen how the matter plays out, as the Telangana Speaker ruled out disqualification of all the MLAs who had defected from the Congress to the BRS.
