Hyderabad, Aug 12 (IANS): Nomula Bagath Kumar, who was elected to Telangana legislative assembly from the Nagarjuna Sagar constituency in the recent by-election, took oath as the MLA on Thursday.

Speaker Pocharam Srinivas Reddy administered oath to Bagath, who belongs to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Minister for Legislative Affairs Vemula Prashanth Reddy, Home Minister Mahmood Ali, Energy Minister Jagdish Reddy, Excise Minister Srinivas Goud, Animal Husbandry Minister Srinivas Yadav and other TRS leaders attended the oath taking ceremony held at the Speaker's chamber.

Nomula Bagath was elected in the by-election held on April 17, which was necessitated by the death of his father and sitting MLA Nomula Narasimhaiah.

Bagath, a practicing lawyer, defeated his nearest rival and senior Congress leader K. Jana Reddy by a margin of 18,872 votes.

Though the election result was declared on May 2, Bagath's swearing-in as MLA was delayed due to the second wave of the Covid pandemic.