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Surekha’s daughter’s remarks against CM Revanth Reddy triggered a disciplinary row that reached the Congress high command.
Days after Telangana Forest Minister Konda Surekha tied Rakhi to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, he dropped her from his cabinet and also decided to rescind the appointment of G Chinna Reddy as vice-chairman of the Telangana Planning Board with immediate effect. However, the BJP soon picked up the issue and slammed the Congress and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi over the removal of Surekha from the Telangana Cabinet, accusing him and his party of undermining women leaders. On Thursday, a release from the Chief Minister’s office said, “A recommendation to this effect has been sent to the Hon’ble Governor already.” For Surekha to be dropped from the Council of Ministers, Telangana Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla has to give his assent. “In place of G Chinna Reddy, Gadwal Vijayalakshmi has been appointed as Vice Chairman, Telangana Planning Board,” the release said.
Soon after the CM’s office announced its decision, Surekha released the letters she had written to Rahul Gandhi, Kharge, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal and the party’s Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan on August 23, claiming that she was discriminated against on account of being a “BC (Backward Classes) woman leader”. In her letter to Rahul Gandhi, Surekha alleged that her family was being politically isolated in Warangal and that a show-cause notice was issued to her over statements made by her adult daughter. The letter asked Rahul Gandhi to order an impartial and comprehensive inquiry into the circumstances that led to her isolation.
According to party sources, the Congress high command had preferred Surekha to resign on her own. However, source claimed, she refused to quit and even decided to travel to Delhi to present her case before the party leadership. She met Kharge at his residence and explained her position. She even challenged the high command to take whatever action it deemed appropriate, the source said. During her meeting with Kharge, she reiterated that her daughter was an adult and that her remarks should not be linked to Surekha, the sources added.
Revanth Reddy also met Kharge and then held discussions with Congress General Secretary Organisation KC Venugopal on the issue. However, Venugopal didn’t meet Surekha. Sources said the discussions of Kharge and Venugopal with Revanth Reddy and others focused on political implications of Surekha’s dismissal from the cabinet as she hailed from the BC community. She was one of only two women ministers in the cabinet. Surekha found herself in a difficult position after her daughter, Konda Sushmita Patel, made public remarks against the Chief Minister.
The latest controversy erupted after Sushmita, an aspiring politician in Parkal, questioned Revanth Reddy’s decision to back sitting MLA Revuri Prakash Reddy from Parkal, from the seat for the 2028 elections. Sushmita asked, “Who is Revanth to decide my ticket?”
She also challenged Prakash Reddy to resign and face her in a by-election. She said that if denied a Congress ticket, she would contest as an Independent against the party candidate.
Sushmita’s remarks caused resentment among several Congress leaders, who questioned why Surekha had not reined in her daughter. The issue subsequently moved from the state unit to the Congress high command in Delhi. The Telangana Congress’s disciplinary committee examined Surekha’s response to its show-cause notice and forwarded its report to the AICC, recommending action.
What has made her removal interesting is the Congress government’s pledge to implement 42 per cent reservation for the BCs, which has added a social dimension to the Surekha issue. Surekha’s husband Konda Murali hails from the Munnur Kapu group, while she belongs to the Padmasali community and both communities have a sizeable presence across the state.
Meanwhile, the BJP, on the other hand picked up the issue to target the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said that Rahul Gandhi’s call to “smash the patriarchy” was merely political rhetoric, and she questioned his silence over Surekha’s removal from the Telangana Council of Ministers. “For Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, the slogan ‘smash the patriarchy’ is nothing but empty words and political rhetoric,” Swaraj said.
Swaraj said a senior Congress leader had been “humiliated and dropped” from the Cabinet by a Congress government in Telangana. “Surekha has levelled extremely serious allegations against the Congress government and the Telangana chief minister,” she said. “I want to ask why Rahul Gandhi remains silent regarding these accusations of injustice and blackmail? Perhaps it is because, for him, ‘smash the patriarchy’ is merely an election slogan, nothing more than political rhetoric,” Swaraj added. She further alleged that the mindset of Rahul Gandhi, Congress and its governments was to “smash the prospects of women if they are progressive”.