Telangana High Court disqualifies Gadwal BRS MLA, declares his aunt DK Aruna legislator

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court on Thursday disqualified Gadwal MLA Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). Her aunt and BJP firebrand leader DK Aruna has now been declared as the MLA in his place. DK Aruna lost the election with a margin of 28,445 votes in the 2018 elections.

The High Court also slapped a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on Bandla Krishna Mohan Reddy for tampering with the affidavit that he had submitted to the election commission while filing his nominations and Rs 50,000 for costs incurred by petitioner DK Aruna.

DK Aruna moved High Court against her nephew alleging that Krishna Mohan submitted wrong information about the properties he owned in the affidavit. It was alleged that the BRS MLA has sold properties even though the High Court ordered him to maintain a status quo.

Aruna was elected thrice as MLA from Gadwal constituency from Congress in 2004, 2009 and 2014. However, after defeat at the hands of her nephew Krishna Mohan Reddy, she quit Congress and joined BJP in 2019 and became national vice-president of that party.

Aruna also had been waging a war against her nephew for the BRS Government’s decision to take over 78 acres of land she distributed to the poor when she was a minister of Congress Government between 2009-2014. The BRS Government had plans to construct a hospital and nursing college in the vacant land.

Krishna Mohan Reddy to move Supreme Court

Meanwhile, Krishna Mohan Reddy addressing the media at the BRS Legislature Party office in Hyderabad said that he would move Supreme Court to seek justice. He said that the High Court delivered the judgment without even serving him a notice. "It was an ex-party judgment, that went against my interests," he said.

He said that he was waiting for the total text of the judgment and expressed hope that he would come clean in the affidavit tampering case.