Khairatabad election will not be notified till pending poll petition is adjudicated: EC tells HC

The Election Commission of India (ECI) will not treat the Khairatabad assembly constituency as a casual vacancy, the Election Commission of India informed the High Court on Thursday. 

Presenting its contentions in a writ petition, the ECI’s standing counsel Avinash Desai also said the Commission would not notify the constituency till an election petition over it was finally adjudicated. The standing counsel was explaining the stand of the ECI in a writ petition filed by P. Vijaya Reddy, an ex-corporator, seeking a direction to the ECI not to notify election of Khairatabad assembly seat. 

The ex-corporator lost the Khairatabad assembly election in 2023 as Congress candidate to Danam Nagender of BRS. She filed an election petition, which is pending for adjudication in the HC, challenging Nagender’ election citing various grounds. She wanted the HC to declare her as winner. Nagender eventually joined Congress and contested from Secunderabad Lok Saba seat and lost the election.