E-Paper
Telangana MLA’s election cancelled by high court for incorrect asset information
Vanama Venkateswara Rao won the Kothagudem assembly seat on a Congress ticket in 2018. In 2019, he crossed over to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now BRS)
HYDERABAD: The Telangana high court on Tuesday set aside the election of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) lawmaker Vanama Venkateswara Rao for having given incorrect information about his assets in his 2018 election affidavit and imposed a ₹5 lakh fine on him.
Vanama Venkateswara Rao won the Kothagudem assembly seat in Bhadradri Kothagudem district on a Congress ticket in 2018. In March 2019, he crossed over to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now BRS).
Tuesday’s verdict came on a petition by Jalagam Venkat Rao who contested the 2018 election on a TRS ticket and was the runner up. Justice Radha Rani, who ruled that Venkateswara Rao’s election was void because he filed an incorrect affidavit on his assets, said Venkat Rao will be the MLA from Kothagudem.
The judge declared that Venkateswara Rao will cease to be MLA with effect from December 12, 2018 and his nearest rival Jalagam Venkat Rao will be considered the MLA from the same dae.
In the 2018 election, Venkateswara Rao got 81,118 votes, whereas Venkat Rao secured 76,979 votes and lost by a margin of 4,139 votes.
Venkat Rao said he expected such a verdict and was very happy to be declared as the MLA. “I knew there was merit in my argument and truth will always triumph,” he said
In his election petition filed in January 2019, Venkat Rao alleged that Venkateswara Rao concealed information about some assets owned by his and his wife. The high court heard the case for more than four years.
Venkateswara Rao’s disqualification does not reduce the BRS strength in the assembly (104 in the 120-seat assembly) since Jalagam Venkat Rao, who has been named as the MLA by the high court, contested the election on a TRS ticket.
