The Telangana High Court has annulled the state Assembly membership of Kothagudem BRS MLA Vanama Venkateswara Rao for furnishing false information in his affidavit during the 2018 elections.
The court has set aside Vanama’s election after reviewing the election petition of former MLA Jalagam Venkat Rao who had alleged that Vanama filed an affidavit with fallacious information about the farmland he, his family owned.
While imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Vanama, the court on Tuesday declared the runner-up Jalagam Venkat Rao as the Kothagudem legislator.
Vanama was elected on Congress ticket in the 2018 polls but later jumped to the ruling side. Jalagam was the TRS (now BRS) candidate. Jalagam had approached the court in 2019 seeking Vanama’s disqualification.
In another similar case, the high court on Tuesday reportedly rejected a plea by BRS minister Srinivas Goud seeking dismissal of a petition seeking his election disqualification.
The petitioner contended that Goud, minister for excise, tourism, youth affairs in the KCR government, had concealed information about his assets and liabilities in the election affidavit.
Published 25 July 2023, 23:33 IST