Konda Surekha Removed From Telangana Cabinet For Indiscipline
Warangal Congress leader accuses Revanth Reddy of ‘blackmail politics’
HYDERABAD: Senior Congress leader Konda Surekha has been removed from the Telangana Council of Ministers, opening a new phase of internal turmoil in the state’s ruling party as she accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of using “blackmail politics” to secure her ouster.
Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla approved Surekha’s removal on September 3 on the advice of the Chief Minister. A Lok Bhavan communiqué said she had been dropped from the Council of Ministers with immediate effect. Surekha had held the Forest, Environment and Endowments portfolios.
The removal followed a Congress disciplinary process arising from a series of internal disputes, including controversial remarks made by Surekha’s daughter against Revanth Reddy and other party leaders. The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee’s disciplinary panel had recommended action against Surekha as well as senior Congress leader G. Chinna Reddy.
Soon after her removal, Surekha mounted a strong public challenge to the Chief Minister. She alleged that the Congress high command had not wanted to drop her but that Revanth Reddy had pressured the leadership by saying he would leave if she remained in the Cabinet.
“High Command has no intention to remove me. I know that 100 per cent. But, the Chief Minister indulged in blackmail politics saying he would go if I am not removed,” she said, according to a PTI report. Her allegation has not been independently substantiated.
Surekha also complained that she had not been given a proper opportunity to explain herself before the decision was taken. Using an analogy to a condemned prisoner being allowed a last wish, she questioned why she had been removed without being informed of the reasons.
The Congress has disputed her version. State Congress president B. Mahesh Kumar Goud said on Friday that the All India Congress Committee acted on a detailed report submitted by the party’s disciplinary committee. He rejected the allegation that Revanth Reddy had blackmailed the central leadership and said the action was intended to demonstrate that violations of party discipline would have consequences.
Congress disciplinary committee chairman Mallu Ravi also challenged Surekha’s assertion that her side had not been heard, pointing out that she had met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the state party president. Reports also show that the disciplinary committee considered replies submitted by Surekha and Chinna Reddy before making its recommendation.
Surekha has argued that she should not be punished for remarks made independently by her adult daughter. She has also alleged that she was being politically and administratively sidelined because she is a woman leader from the Backward Classes, commonly referred to as BCs in Telangana politics.
In letters released to the media, Surekha alleged that important decisions in her departments had been taken without her participation and that her former officer on special duty had been targeted without her knowledge. These remain allegations made by Surekha; no independent finding establishing those claims was identified.
Despite the confrontation, Surekha said she had no immediate “Plan B” and would continue as an MLA rather than leave the Congress. She maintained that she had committed no wrongdoing and urged other ministers and legislators who were dissatisfied with the government to speak openly.
The political shake-up extended beyond Surekha. Revanth Reddy also rescinded G. Chinna Reddy’s appointment as vice-chairperson of the Telangana State Planning Board and appointed Gadwal Vijayalakshmi in his place.
Vijayalakshmi had been serving as chairperson of the Telangana State Commission for Women. Nerella Sharada was appointed to succeed her at the commission, while former Rajya Sabha member G. Sudha Rani was named chairperson of the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority, or KUDA. Government orders formalising the changes were issued on September 3.
The Telangana government’s official Women and Child Development Department page now lists Nerella Sharada as chairperson of the State Commission for Women, independently confirming that appointment.
The appointments of three women to prominent posts have also become part of the political debate surrounding Surekha’s removal. Some news reports have interpreted the choices in the context of Backward Classes representation, although the state government has not officially said the appointments were intended to compensate politically for Surekha’s exit.
The dispute is significant for Telangana politics because it has brought divisions within the ruling Congress into public view. For Telugu readers in the United States who follow developments in Telangana, the immediate question is whether Surekha remains within the Congress fold or whether the confrontation develops into a broader factional challenge to the Revanth Reddy leadership.
As of September 5, the Congress leadership is publicly defending the removal as a disciplinary decision, while Surekha says she intends to remain a Congress legislator and continues to contest the circumstances in which she lost her Cabinet position.
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