The Telangana High Court has declared invalid the election of Vanama Venkateswara Rao as the MLA from Kothagudem Assembly constituency, reversing the results of the 2018 Assembly elections. The High Court passed the verdict on Tuesday, July 25, based on a petition by his opponent Jalagam Venkat Rao, who had contested the 2018 election from BRS. Jalagam Venkat Rao had alleged in his petition that Vanama Venkateswara Rao had not disclosed the complete property details of himself and his wife in the affidavit or Form 26 submitted to the Election Commission, violating section 125A of the Representation of the People Act. 

The affidavit includes details of assets and liabilities of the candidate and their family members, as well as any criminal cases against the candidate. Venkat Rao had reportedly alleged that his opponent did not submit the accurate details of his assets in the affidavit. 

The court also declared the runner-up in the election, BRS leader Jalagam Venkat Rao, as the new Kothagudem MLA. Although Vanama Venkateswara Rao contested the election on a Congress ticket, he was among the several Congress MLAs who later jumped ship to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). 

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Vanama Venkateswara Rao. Vanama Venkateswara Rao was first elected as Kothagudem MLA in 1989, and also won the election in 1999 and 2004. He won the 2018 election with 81,118 votes, a margin of 4,139 votes (2.4%) over Jalagam Venkat Rao who polled 76,979 votes. Venkat Rao’s father Jalagam Vengala Rao was a former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh from 1973 to 1978.