AICC in-charge for Telangana, Meenakshi Natarajan had reportedly directed Minister Konda Surekha to attend Thursday’s cabinet meeting amid the controversy. However, she reportedly ignored the instruction and remained unreachable until after the meeting.
Published Oct 17, 2025 | 12:36 AM ⚊ Updated Oct 17, 2025 | 12:36 AM
![[LTR] Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, her daughter Konda Sushmita Patel and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.](https://s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media.thesouthfirst.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Konda.jpg "Konda")
[LTR] Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, her daughter Konda Sushmita Patel and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
Synopsis: The internal crisis within the ruling Congress in Telangana took an extraordinary turn on Thursday when Konda Sushmita Patel, daughter of Endowments Minister Konda Surekha, made explosive allegations against Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, several cabinet colleagues, and senior party leaders, including conspiring against her mother and their family over their Backward Classes (BC) background. The Congress leadership is reportedly monitoring the situation closely, weighing whether to seek explanations from the Chief Minister or remove Surekha from the cabinet, while also remaining cautious of potential backlash from BC communities ahead of upcoming elections.
Telangana Endowments Minister Konda Surekha’s daughter, Konda Sushmita Patel, has accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, several of his cabinet colleagues, and other senior Congress leaders of conspiring against her mother and their family because they belong to the Backward Classes (BC).
The extraordinary public attack comes a day after Telangana police attempted to arrest Surekha’s former Officer on Special Duty (OSD), N Sumanth—who had been dismissed from his position a day earlier—at the minister’s residence, triggering a late-night standoff.
In her public outburst, which dominated political discussions throughout Thursday, 16 October, Sushmita made several sensational allegations involving the Chief Minister, his brothers, and party leader Rohin Reddy.
In a related development, the government ordered the transfer of all works proposed for Medaram Jathara—the project that originally triggered the discord between Surekha and her cabinet colleague Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy—to the Roads and Buildings Department. The chief secretary is understood to have ordered the transfer of all files relating to the works to the R&B department.
The political storm shows no sign of abating. Speaking to media persons, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president B Mahesh Kumar Goud said it appears there was a communication gap somewhere and that the issue would be sorted out soon.
He said he had taken the issue to the notice of the Chief Minister and the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge for Telangana, Meenakshi Natarajan.
Natarajan had reportedly directed Minister Konda Surekha to attend Thursday’s cabinet meeting amid the controversy, according to party sources. However, she reportedly ignored the instruction and remained unreachable until after the meeting.
Later in the evening, Surekha met Natarajan and Mahesh Kumar Goud. After the meeting, she said she had explained her problems and shared her thoughts about the situation.
“They told me that they would find a solution to the problem. They listened to me and promised to sort out the issue. Since Meenakshi Natarajan has given me an assurance, I am leaving the issue to them. I will abide by her directions going forward,” she said.
The Congress leadership is said to be closely monitoring developments, given the explosive nature of the charges from within the cabinet. The party is reportedly weighing two options: either to seek an explanation from Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on the allegations made against him or to remove Konda Surekha from the cabinet.
At the same time, the leadership is cautious about possible backlash from BC communities if Surekha, a BC leader, is dismissed—particularly ahead of the crucial Jubilee Hills by-election and upcoming local body polls.
Sushmita has further accused Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy of sidelining Minister Surekha in the finalisation of Rs 71 crore worth of Medaram Jathara development works.
“Ponguleti called my mother and asked her to tell our bidder to withdraw his tender. When she refused, he got the works transferred to the Revenue Department and ensured the contract went to his own person,” Sushmita alleged.
The police went to Surekha’s Jubilee Hills residence on Wednesday night to arrest her former OSD, N Sumanth, who had been sacked the previous day over allegations of extortion and threatening a Deccan Cements executive with a gun.
Surekha and Sumanth reportedly left the residence before the police could detain him, while Sushmita confronted the plainclothes officers.
Later, speaking briefly to the media while leaving her residence along with Sumanth, Minister Surekha said that a complaint had been filed against her OSD by Nalgonda Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy in Warangal, on the basis of which the police came to her residence.
Her husband, former MLC Konda Murali, claimed he was unaware of the developments as he was not at home when the incident occurred.
In a sensational charge, Sushmita alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy himself had handed the gun to Congress leader Rohin Reddy and directed him to meet Sumanth and together “talk” to the Deccan Cements executives, where the alleged threat took place.
“The CCTV footage from that office will prove who was actually there, if it exists,” she claimed.
Rohin Reddy, who is president of Khairatabad DCC, refuting her allegations, said that he had no role in it.
“When Sumanth wanted to extort money from Deccan Cements executives, he in fact had told him that he would not come into the picture as he is against such practices. I do not resort to any illegal acts,” he said.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was allegedly personally interested in a particular piece of Endowments land, according to Sushmita, which her mother, Surekha, in her capacity as Minister for Endowments, had proposed to exchange for another plot of equivalent value to protect the department’s interests.
Sushmita alleged that her mother’s refusal to comply with the Chief Minister’s reported instructions regarding the land triggered resentment within the ruling establishment.
“My mother only wanted to act according to rules. She opposed the idea of transferring endowments land directly and insisted that if the land was to be alienated, it must be done through a lawful exchange of equal-value property. That is when differences with Revanth Reddy began to surface,” she claimed.
Accusing the Chief Minister of using the extortion case to politically corner her mother, Sushmita said,
“Revanth Reddy wants to divert the case from Sumanth to my mother so he can remove her from the cabinet. This is a deliberate attempt by Reddy community leaders—including Revanth, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and advisor Vem Narender Reddy—to suppress BC leaders.”
She said the government was plotting to arrest her father, Konda Murali, who is a reformed Maoist under the Arms Act. “If anything happens to either my father or mother, Revanth Reddy, his advisor Vem Narender Reddy, Kadiam Srihari, Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy and Rohin Reddy should take the responsibility,” she said.
She also questioned how Revanth Reddy could send police to a BC minister’s residence. “Does the government have any sense of shame? It seems it has no shame at all,” she said.
Sushmita questioned why the Chief Minister’s two brothers enjoyed special security and privileges while her family was being “harassed.” She appealed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to intervene and “stop the injustice being done to loyal party workers.”
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
