Telangana MLA Disqualified, Replaced By Rival From His Party

Vanama Venkateswara Rao, originally elected as a Congress candidate, had later joined the BRS disqualified by the Telangana High Court.

With barely four months remaining in his term, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA from Telangana's Kothagudem, Vanama Venkateswara Rao, has been declared disqualified by the High Court. Jalagam Venkat Rao, the runner-up candidate in the 2018 election, has been declared elected in his place.

Vanama Venkateswara Rao, originally elected as a Congress candidate, had later joined the BRS with 12 other MLAs, evading action under the anti-defection law.

The candidate who lost the election to him, ironically also a BRS member (then known as the Telangana Rashtra Samithi or TRS), had filed a court case alleging that Venkateswara Rao had not fully disclosed details of property owned by him and his wife in his declaration to the Election Commission.