HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has declined to grant an urgent hearing on a fresh petition filed by Congress leader P. Vijaya Reddy, daughter of late Congress veteran P. Janardhan Reddy (PJR), seeking to halt the notification and process for the proposed Khairatabad Assembly by-election.
Vijaya Reddy’s counsel moved a lunch motion petition before the Bench headed by the Chief Justice, requesting an immediate hearing to issue directions to the Election Commission. However, the court rejected the lunch motion request for urgent taking up and scheduled the hearing for next Tuesday.
The Khairatabad Assembly seat was recently declared vacant following the disqualification of sitting MLA Danam Nagender under anti-defection provisions after he switched loyalties from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) to the ruling Congress.
In her fresh petition, Vijaya Reddy requested the court to restrain the Election Commission from issuing any by-poll notification for the Khairatabad constituency until the High Court delivers a final verdict on her pending 2024 election petition.
She cited her original election petition filed in early 2024 following the 2023 Assembly elections, in which she lost to Danam Nagender. In that suit, Vijaya Reddy alleged that Nagender had committed material irregularities and concealed crucial financial and asset details in his Form-26 election affidavit. She sought a declaration invalidating Nagender’s original election victory and asked to be declared the legitimate winner or representative.
Vijaya Reddy contended that if the Election Commission moves forward with a fresh by-election while her 2024 election petition remains pending, it could create severe procedural conflicts and infringe upon her legal recourse. The State Election Commission and former MLA Danam Nagender have been named as respondents in the newly filed writ petition.
With the High Court declining to grant an emergency stay order via lunch motion, the matter will now be taken up during the regular list next week. All eyes remain on the High Court as its eventual decision will determine whether the Election Commission can proceed with announcing the Khairatabad by-poll schedule or if the process will be put on hold.
