HYDERABAD, September 26, 2026 (Journalist File): Telangana Rakshana Sena president Kalvakuntla Kavitha has announced that her party will contest the forthcoming Khairatabad Assembly by-election and field its own candidate. The bypoll follows the disqualification of former Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagender. The Supreme Court recently upheld the Telangana High Court's decision disqualifying Nagender under the anti-defection law.
Kavitha also criticised the practice of elected representatives changing political parties. Referring to Nagender, she questioned the practice of winning an Assembly election on one party's ticket and subsequently contesting a Lok Sabha election on another party's ticket. Nagender had won Khairatabad on a BRS ticket in 2023 before contesting the 2024 Secunderabad Lok Sabha election as a Congress candidate.
She also raised concerns over the ongoing revision of electoral rolls, alleging that voters could be removed because of clerical errors. Kavitha further alleged that there was public discussion about the possibility of politically motivated deletions of names with BJP support. These remarks were presented as her allegations; no independent evidence establishing such a coordinated operation was cited in the reports reviewed.
