Published Sep 03, 2026 | 2:58 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 03, 2026 | 3:39 PM
Telangana Endowments Minister Konda Surekha and State Planning Board vice-chairman G Chinna Reddy.
Synopsis: Telangana Endowments and Forests Minister Konda Surekha has been sacked from the Cabinet. The move comes after the Congress central leadership asked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to remove her, amid recent meetings with senior party leaders in Delhi. The party is also preparing a minor Cabinet reshuffle even as Surekha has challenged the action, maintaining that she cannot be held responsible for statements made by her adult daughter.
Telangana Endowments and Forests Minister Konda Surekha has been sacked from the Cabinet in a move that could open more cracks in the ruling Congress.
South First had previously reported that the minister was facing the axe for continued criticism of the government. A letter recommending her dismissal has been sent to the Governor, sources within the Chief Minister’s office confirmed.
Although earlier reports suggested that the Congress leadership was planning to ask Surekha to step down voluntarily and sack her if she refused, the leadership reportedly asked Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to remove her from the Cabinet outright, to send a strong message that indiscipline of this nature would not be tolerated.
The decision follows multiple meetings held in Delhi in the last two days between the chief minister, senior ministers and the national leadership including AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge.
Surekha’s removal follows just days after she tied a rakhi made of gold to Revanth Reddy on Raksha Bandhan recently.
The AICC is understood to have readied a plan for a minor reshuffle of the Cabinet to fill the vacancy that will be caused by the sack of Surekha. There are already two existing vacancies in the Cabinet.
The new inclusions are expected to include a woman as also a member from the Backward Class community as Surekha happens to be a BC. The central leadership is keen to give an impression that the interests of BCs would be protected and the action against Surekha was primarily on disciplinary grounds.
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Simultaneously, as already reported by South First, the Chief Minister has rescinded the appointment of senior Congress leader G Chinna Reddy as Vice Chairman of the State Planning Board. Chinna Reddy’s removal is also on disciplinary grounds for his criticism of the chief minister.
Former GHMC Mayor and Telangana State Commission for Women Chairperson Gadwal Vijayalakshmi has been appointed to the post in his place. The Planning Board Vice Chairman’s post carries Cabinet rank.
Nerella Sharada has been approved as the new Chairperson of the Women’s Commission replacing Gadwal Vijayalakshmi, while G Sudha Rani, former Rajya Sabha member, has been appointed Chairperson of the Kakatiya Urban Development Authority (KUDA).
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The new appointment of three women, all from BCs, is meant to blunt the attack from Surekha that she was being targeted despite being a woman and that too from the backward classes.
Earlier, the Telangana Pradesh Congress disciplinary committee had sought an explanation from Surekha in connection with her daughter’s Sushmitha’s remarks directed at Revanth Reddy and other Congress leaders. The committee subsequently forwarded its findings to the party’s central leadership for a decision.
Surekha has challenged the action, maintaining that she cannot be held responsible for statements made by her adult daughter.
Surekha also travelled to Delhi and met senior leaders of the party to put forward her version of the dispute. After her meetings, she spoke to the media at Indira Bhavan, making it clear that she was opposed to any disciplinary action against her.
“Why should I be punished for what my daughter said?” Surekha asked. She also questioned what she described as differential treatment within the party. If she was being proceeded against for the remarks of her daughter, she asked why similar scrutiny should not be applied to the Chief Minister and other leaders over their political statements and decisions.
At Indira Bhavan, Surekha also made allegations concerning the Chief Minister and his family and referred to issues involving other leaders. She demanded that these matters too be examined if the party was proceeding against her.
